chapter 2 solar radiation -...
TRANSCRIPT
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Advanced CSP Teaching Materials
Chapter 2
Solar Radiation
Author Matthias Günther1
Reviewer Nicole Janotte2 Ahmed Mezrhab3 Klaus Pottler4 Christoph Schillings5 Stefan Wilbert4 Fabian Wolferstätter4
1 Institute for Electrical Engineering, Rational Energy Conversion, University of Kassel, Wilhelmshöher
Allee 73, 34121 Kassel 2 German Aerospace Center (DLR) -Solar Research, Linder Höhe 51147 Cologne, Germany
3 Université Mohamed Premier, Laboratoire de Mécanique & Énergétique, 60000 Oujda, Maroc
4 German Aerospace Center (DLR), Plataforma Solar de Almería (DLR-PSA), Ctra. de Senés s/n,
04200 Tabernas, Spain 5 German Aerospace Center (DLR), Systems Analysis and Technology Assessment, Pfaffenwaldring
38-40, 70569 Stuttgart
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Table of Contents Summary ...........................................................................................................................................7
1 The origin of the energy for the operation of CSP plants ..........................................................8
1.1 The Sun and its structure ......................................................................................................8
1.2 Nuclear fusion in the Sun ......................................................................................................9
1.3 The Sun as a thermal radiator ............................................................................................ 10
1.3.1 Thermal radiation .......................................................................................................... 11
1.3.2 The Sun spectrum......................................................................................................... 14
2 Solar radiation on the Earth’s surface ....................................................................................... 16
2.1 Solar constant ...................................................................................................................... 16
2.2 Radiation extinction processes in the atmosphere ........................................................... 19
2.3 Air Mass ................................................................................................................................ 22
2.4 Direct, diffuse and reflected radiation................................................................................. 23
2.5 Direct radiation: Turbidity .................................................................................................... 24
2.6 Direct radiation on tilted planes .......................................................................................... 26
2.7 Diffuse and reflected radiation ............................................................................................ 27
2.8 Radiation balance of the Earth ........................................................................................... 28
3 Geometrical aspects of direct solar radiation ........................................................................... 31
3.1. Sun-Earth geometry............................................................................................................ 31
3.2 Coordinate systems ............................................................................................................. 34
3.3 Solar time.............................................................................................................................. 36
3.4 Direction of direct solar radiation ........................................................................................ 42
3.5 Incidence angles on tilted surfaces .................................................................................... 43
3.6 Tracking angles of mirror systems ..................................................................................... 46
3.7 Incidence angles on mirror systems ................................................................................... 49
4 Radiation concentration .............................................................................................................. 50
4.1 Radiation concentration on parabolic mirrors .................................................................... 50
4.2 Alternative radiation concentration geometries for CSP systems .................................... 51
4.3 Theoretical maximum concentration of solar radiation ..................................................... 52
4.4 Theoretical maximum concentration ratio on parabolic mirrors ....................................... 54
4.5 Maximum theoretical absorber temperature ...................................................................... 58
5 Radiation measurement ............................................................................................................. 61
5.1 Ground measurement .......................................................................................................... 61
5.2 Satellite measurement programmes .................................................................................. 68
5.3 Available radiation data bases ............................................................................................ 73
Reference List ................................................................................................................................ 75
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Questions and Exercises ............................................................................................................... 77
Questions ........................................................................................................................................ 77
Answers .......................................................................................................................................... 78
Exercises ........................................................................................................................................ 80
Solutions ......................................................................................................................................... 82
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Nomenclature
Symbol Meaning Unit
Latin letters
absorber aperture area m2
aperture area m2
area of the Sun image m
surface area of the Sun m2
AM Air Mass (relative optical path length of the Sun beams through the atmosphere)
-
b Wien proportionality factor mK
c light velocity m/s
concentration ratio -
maximal concentration ratio -
d Diameter of a paraboloid concentrator m
DoY day of the year -
E equation of time (difference between local mean time
and solar time) min
f focal length m
global irradiance W/m2
global irradiance at clear sky conditions W/m2
direct irradiance W/m2
direct irradiance at clear sky conditions W/m2
direct normal irradiance W/m2
direct normal irradiance at clear sky conditions W/m2
direct irradiance on a tilted plane W/m2
diffuse irradiance at clear sky conditions W/m2
diffuse irradiance W/m2
diffuse irradiance on a tilted plane W/m2
solar irradiance outside the atmosphere for a given
day of the year
W/m2
irradiance due to reflected radiation W/m2
irradiance on tilted surface due to reflected radiation W/m2
solar constant (1367W/m2) W/m
2
average irradiance at the Earth W/m2
h Planck constant Js
h altitude (above sea level) m HoD hour of day -
k Boltzmann constant J/K
clearness index (ratio to ) -
clearness index (ratio of actual global irradiance to clear sky global irradiance)
l Length of a parabolic trough m
L longitude °
local longitude °
time zone reference longitude °
m mass kg
hemispherical emittance per unit surface area and per unit wave length
n cloud index -
radiant power of the absorber W
radiation power of the Sun W
Solar energy that reaches the Earth (in one year) kWh
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total solar radiant power that reaches the Earth W
Sun-Earth distance m
mean Earth radius m
distance between focal point and mirror/mirror rim m
Sun radius m
s tracking angle (collector zenith angle) °
S sensitivity of the radiometer (pyranometer) V/W/m2
t time s T temperature K
absorber temperature K, °C
(Linke) turbidity factor -
surface temperature of the Sun K, °C
day length (from sunrise to sunset) h
solar time h:min:s
standard time h:min:s
U voltage V
x extinction coefficient 1/m
Greek letters
altitude angle °
sun beam angle °, rad
solar altitude angle °
altitude angle of heliostat normal °
altitude angle of the solar tower receiver from the
heliostat position °
tilt angle °
azimuth angle °
solar azimuth angle °
azimuth angle of heliostat normal °
azimuth angle of the solar tower from the heliostat
position °
declination °
incidence angle °
solar zenith angle °
wavelength µm
wavelength at spectral radiant emittance peak µm
reflectivity -
maximum albedo -
minimum albedo (= ground albedo) -
Stefan-Boltzmann constant W/(m2K
4)
transmission coefficient -
atmospheric transmission factor considering absorption and scattering by aerosol particles
-
atmospheric transmission factor considering absorption
-
atmospheric transmission factor considering
absorption by different gases -
atmospheric transmission factor considering Mie-
scattering -
atmospheric transmission factor considering -
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absorption by ozone
atmospheric transmission factor considering Rayleigh
scattering -
atmospheric transmission factor considering
absorption by water vapour -
Φ geographic latitude °
ψ rim angle °
hour angle °
hour angle of sunrise and sunset °
Acronyms
AM Air Mass
AU astronomical unit
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Summary
In the course of this chapter the physical basics of our main source of energy, the Sun, are presented.
The Sun structure and its radiation will be explained. The radiation extinction processes on the way to
the Earth’s surface will be discussed. The solar radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface is the
fundamental resource for the operation of a concentrating solar power plant. A full understanding of
the characteristics of the direct solar radiation is essential for the successful design of a concentrating
solar power plant. Basic aspects of the Sun position determination, mirror tracking and radiation
concentration are discussed. In the last section, some possibilities for the measurement of the available
solar radiation are presented.
Key questions
• Where does the energy for the operation of CSP plants come from?
• Which hurdles do the sunbeams have to overcome on the way to Earth?
• How can we determine the direction of solar radiation?
• How can solar collectors follow the direct solar radiation?
• How can we concentrate solar radiation?
• How can we measure the solar radiation?
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1 The origin of the energy for the operation of CSP plants
1.1 The Sun and its structure
The source of the energy we make use of in CSP plants is the Sun, the star at the centre of our Solar
System. It has a diameter of about 1,392,000 km (about 109 Earths) and a mass of about
(about 330,000 times the mass of the Earth). The Sun has a layered structure, as illustrated in the
following figure.
Figure 1: The structure of the Sun
The centre of the Sun is formed by the core, which is considered to extend to about 0.23 solar radii. It
is characterized by a very high density, a very high pressure and very high temperatures of about
15,000,000 K. The core is the location where heat is produced by fusion processes. The rest of the Sun
is heated by this energy that is transferred outward and that leaves the Sun finally as electromagnetic
radiation or kinetic energy of particles.
The adjacent layer is the radiative zone, from about 0.23 to about 0.7 solar radii. Its mean temperature
is about 7,000,000 K6. Density and pressure are much lower than in the core too. The energy generated
in the core is transported through the radiative zone by radiative processes experiencing successive
absorption and reradiation.
In the convective zone, which follows the radiative zone (from 0.7 solar radii to the full solar radius),
the solar plasma has a much lower density (about ) and also a lower temperature (about
2,000,000 K) than in the radiative zone. The energy transport occurs through convection.
The visible surface of the Sun is the photosphere. It is the layer from where the visible solar radiation
with its continuous spectrum is emitted. Above the photosphere, electromagnetic radiation is free to
6 These mean values vary considerably within the different layers. Density and pressure decrease
continuously from the core to the outer parts. Temperature decreases continuously up to the photosphere and chromosphere and increases towards the corona.
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propagate into space. The photosphere is quite a thin layer of between tens and hundreds of kilometres
with a very low density. Its temperature is about 5800 K.
The relatively thin (around 10,000 km) chromosphere and the very extensive (up to 20 solar radii)
corona are visible only during a solar eclipse and represent the Sun atmosphere.7 They are nearly
transparent, although the name of the chromosphere originates from its slightly reddish colour.
1.2 Nuclear fusion in the Sun
As mentioned above, the energy in the Sun is generated by nuclear fusion processes. In these
processes, hydrogen is converted into helium. Currently, the Sun consists of about 75% hydrogen
(weight percentage), 23% helium and 2% other elements.
The most important reaction chain is the so-called proton-proton chain. Another reaction chain, which
is much less frequent than the former one, is the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen chain.
The summarized reaction equation (not taking into account the intermediate steps of the reaction
chains) in both cases is the following:
4 p+
4He
2+ + 2 e
+ + 2 + mc
2
Protons (hydrogen nuclei, p+) fuse into helium (
4He
+), releasing additionally positrons (e
+) and
neutrinos (). This process results in a mass defect and, consequently, energy is released, 26.7 MeV
per reaction.
The total solar mass defect per second amounts to about . According to the mass-energy
equivalence , this corresponds to a radiation emission power of the Sun of about
.
The following figure shows once more the mentioned processes and numbers.
7 As the Sun is a gaseous body it seems a bit arbitrary to speak of a solar atmosphere. However, it
has become common to call the layers above the photosphere, i.e. the layers above the visible layer of the Sun, the solar atmosphere.
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Figure 2: Fusion processes in the Sun
1.3 The Sun as a thermal radiator
In the following paragraphs, some concepts of radiation physics will be applied, which bear a close
relation to each other and which can be mistaken easily: radiation, irradiation, radiant energy, radiant
flux, irradiance, and radiant emittance. So, let us start with the following terminological and
conceptual clarification:
Radiation: “radiation” is used here in a very general way, neither indicating a specific physical
quantity nor having a specific dimension. Radiation is a transport process, in which energy propagates
through a medium or through empty space. In general, in this chapter electromagnetic radiation is
considered.
Radiant energy: energy of electromagnetic waves (unit: joule [J])
Radiant power: radiant energy per unit time (unit: watt [W], joule per second [Js-1
])
Irradiation: This terminus is used generally for the process in which an object is exposed to radiation.
As a quantity it is used for the incident radiant energy per unit area (unit: joule per square metre
[Jm-2
])
Irradiance: incident radiant power per unit area (unit: watt per square metre [Wm-2
])
Radiant emittance: emerging radiant power per unit area of emitting surface (unit: watt per square
metre [Wm-2
])
The energy produced in the fusion processes in the Sun core leaves the Sun as radiative energy. A part
of this energy is released as radiation of matter (solar wind) and the bigger part as electromagnetic
radiation. The latter is the radiation that is important in our context, because it is the source for the
operation of CSP systems.
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The electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the Sun resembles in its spectrum the thermal
radiation of a black body at a certain temperature. Therefore, and in order to understand the
characteristics of the energy source for CSP systems, it is important to understand thermal radiation.
That’s why we will now recapitulate some fundamental radiation physics.
1.3.1 Thermal radiation
All physical objects emit electromagnetic radiation. Light is electromagnetic radiation in a certain
range of frequencies and wavelengths. Nevertheless, not all bodies emit light. Actually, most visible
objects we do not perceive because of the radiation they emit but because of the light they reflect and
that originates from other sources. We know this because at night we cannot see the majority of the
objects we can see in daylight.
Nevertheless, there is a way to make objects visible even at night without illuminating them: When we
heat them up sufficiently, they will begin to emit light. At first they will glow in dim reddish light.
When we continue to heat them up, they will glow more intensely and the colour of the emitted light
will change towards yellow and later white. The experience that we can make objects glow by heating
them up is a hint on the dependency of the emitted electromagnetic radiation on temperature. Indeed,
the emission behaviour of a body depends on its temperature as well as on the object´s material and
surface properties. The radiation which is emitted by bodies due to their temperature is called thermal
radiation.
Now, there is a common useful idealization in radiation physics. Imagine a body that neither reflects
any incident light nor lets it pass through, i.e., it absorbs all the incident electromagnetic radiation.
Such a body is called a black body or an ideal radiator. Black bodies do not exist in reality. They are
just useful theoretic constructions. In radiation physics, thermal radiation is described at first for ideal
black bodies, and the radiation behaviour of real bodies is derived subsequently from the black-body
radiation.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Max Planck formulated his famous law of lack-body
radiation which describes the spectral composition of the radiation of a black body in dependency of
its temperature. One formulation of this law, which indicates the temperature dependent hemispherical
emittance per unit surface area and per unit wave length at the wavelength , is this:
, (1)
where is the Planck constant,
the Boltzmann constant and
the speed of light. The spectral composition of the electromagnetic radiation
emitted by black bodies at different temperatures which is expressed in this formula is represented in
the following figure.
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Figure 3: Planck’s law of black-body radiation: Spectral radiant emittance (in W/(m
2μm))
It can be seen that thermal radiation has a continuous spectrum. There are other types of spectra that
do not show the same continuous structure: emission spectra and absorption spectra. Emission spectra
are produced e.g. by hot gas of low density and consist of characteristic lines, which depend on the
type of gas. Absorption spectra are produced when light propagates through partially transparent
matter. They have the form of continuous spectra with dark absorption lines.
Furthermore, we can observe the following relations between temperature and radiation: First, for each
temperature there is a maximum of radiation intensity at a certain wave length. At the left and at the
right side of the maximum the spectral radiant emittance M declines continuously. We see also that the
wavelength for which the maximum appears varies with temperature. The higher the temperature the
smaller is the wavelength of the radiation at the maximum. The corresponding quantitative relation is
known as Wien’s displacement law. It states that the wavelength at the point of maximum spectral
radiant emittance M is inversely proportional to the temperature:
(2)
where . This relation permits to derive the temperature of a body from the
spectrum of the radiation it emits. The discontinuous black line in the following figure indicates the
location of the power maximum for different temperatures.
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Figure 4: Representation of Wien’s displacement law
Second, the total radiant emittance, represented by the surface below the different curves (see figure
2.5), varies also with temperature. Higher temperature is correlated with higher radiant emittance. This
relation is quantitatively specified in the Stefan-Boltzmann law. It states that the total power radiated
by a black body is directly proportional to the fourth power of the body’s absolute temperature:
(3)
where
is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and the body surface area.
These three interconnected laws, Planck´s black-body radiation law, Wien’s displacement law and the
Stefan-Boltzmann law represent an important physical background in order to understand thermal
radiation and solar radiation in particular.
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Figure 5: Representation of the Stefan-Boltzmann law
Wien’s displacement law can be mathematically derived by the differentiation of Planck’s formula
with respect to the wavelength and the Stefan-Boltzmann law can be derived by the integration over
all wavelengths.
1.3.2 The Sun spectrum
Black bodies are an idealization. There are no black bodies in reality. Neither the Sun is one.
Nevertheless, radiation spectrum and radiation power of the Sun resemble the spectrum and the
intensity of the radiation of a black body at around 5780 K.
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Figure 6: Solar spectrum in comparison to the spectrum of a black radiator at 5777K
Figure 6 shows the spectral composition of the solar radiation in comparison to the spectrum of a
black radiator at 5777 K. This temperature is chosen because the radiant power of the Sun is equal to
the radiant power it would have if it was a black radiator at 5777 K. In figure 6, the area below the two
curves is the same. Accordingly, often an effective Sun temperature of 5777 K is indicated.
However, the two curves are not identical, because the Sun is not exactly a black radiator. First, the
Sun is not a black body and, second, as we have seen, the Sun does not have one uniform temperature,
but it consists of different layers with different temperatures. Furthermore, the solar spectrum is
interrupted by dark lines due to absorption processes in the Sun atmosphere.
Taking Wien’s displacement law as the criterion, the effective Sun temperature would be higher (about
6300 K), because the observed radiation maximum in the Sun spectrum is at a shorter wavelength than
it should be if the Sun was a black radiator at 5777 K.
The biggest part of the solar spectrum is in the range of visible light (the lower wavelength limit is
taken to be between 360 and 400nm and the upper limit between 760 and 830nm). Smaller parts are in
the ultraviolet and in the infrared range. Radiation with a wavelength below about 400nm is ultraviolet
radiation (which sometimes divided into three sub-ranges: UV-A: 315-400nm, UV-B: 280-315nm,
UV-C: 100-280nm). Radiation with a wavelength above 800nm is infrared radiation.
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2 Solar radiation on the Earth’s surface
2.1 Solar constant
We want to know more about the solar radiation at the Earth’s surface, which is the direct energy
source for the operation of CSP plants.
In a first step we will determine the power of solar radiation per unit area at the outer border of the
Earth´s atmosphere. It is nearly constant and the value is called the solar constant. Note well, we are
not speaking about the irradiance on the Earth’s surface, but about the radiant power outside the
terrestrial atmosphere. The influence of the atmosphere on the radiation until it reaches the Earth’s
surface will be the subject of subsequent sections.
The solar constant depends basically on three parameters: the temperature of the Sun, more precisely
of the photosphere which emits the major part of the radiation that leaves the Sun, the size of the Sun,
and the distance between Sun and Earth. We just mentioned that the temperature of the Sun surface
can be considered to be . Additionally, we know that the Sun radius is about
and that the mean Sun-Earth distance amounts to approximately .8 On the basis of
these three parameters and considering the Sun as a black body (and thus simplifying the complex
reality, yet we know that it is only approximately a black body), we can calculate the solar radiation
power arriving at the Earth.
First, the Stefan-Boltzmann law permits to calculate the total solar radiation power:
With this power, the Sun emits radiation into the space, as mentioned before. Now, the same total
radiation power arrives at any sphere around the Sun. No radiation gets lost on its way. So, if we
consider the sphere around the Sun on which the Earth’s orbit is located then we know that the same
radiant energy that leaves the Sun arrives at this sphere. That means that the irradiance at this sphere,
i.e. the solar constant we are looking for, can be calculated taking the total solar radiation power
and dividing it by the area of the considered sphere with the radius :9
8 The indicated value is known as the Astronomical Unit (AU). It represents roughly the mean Sun-
Earth distance. 9 Actually, it is not necessary to calculate at first the total solar radiation in order to reach the indicated
result. There is a shorter way: The power of the emitted solar radiation per unit area is reciprocally proportional to the square of the distance from the centre of the Sun. (Consider spheres around the Sun’s centre and take into account that the same radiation is distributed on spherical areas which are directly proportional to the square of their radius.) So, assuming that the radiation power per square meter on the Sun’s surface is and taking into account that the surface has a distance from the Sun’s centre of , we get the same result more directly:
.
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Figure 7: Determination of the Solar constant
Remember that this is the radiant power per square meter incident on a surface on top of the
atmosphere and in normal direction to the incident rays. The irradiance on the Earth’s surface will be
different; in no case it will reach this value. We neither should expect that the calculated value will be
exactly the real value of the solar constant; the very idealization of the Sun as a black body should
imply an error. Moreover, the mere supposition that there is one constant value cannot be true. One
reason is that the Sun-Earth distance is not constant. There are regular variations during the year and
further long-term variations. So, the solar constant can be understood at best as an average value over
a certain time period.
Several experiments were made to measure the solar constant. High altitude aircrafts, balloons, and
satellites permitted direct measurements of solar radiation outside most or all of the Earth’s
atmosphere. In 1982, as a result of the different measurements, the World Meteorological
Organization fixed the average value of
as the solar constant.10
There are certain processes which cause variations in the power of the solar radiation that arrives at the
atmosphere. The main short period variation of the solar radiation at the outer border of the
atmosphere results from the fact that the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is not exactly a circle, but an
ellipse. That means that sometimes the Earth is closer to the Sun than at other times. However, the
eccentricity of the elliptic orbit is quite small. The Earth-Sun distance increases and decreases during a
year by about in relation to the mean distance.11 As a consequence, the solar irradiance on top
of the Earth’s atmosphere varies by about relative to the indicated mean value of
. The
maximum irradiance (i.e. the minimum Earth-Sun distance) is reached in January and the minimum
(i.e. the maximum Earth-Sun distance) is reached in July. Taking into account the eccentricity effect
with a variation of of the irradiance in relation to the mean value, the solar irradiance outside
10
See Wagemann/Eschrich 1994, 8. 11
As indicated above, the mean distance is approximately . The maximum distance is about (around July 5
th) and the minimum distance is about (around
January 3rd
).
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the atmosphere for a given day of the year (DoY, with on January 1) can be approximated in
the following way12:
(4)
There are further short time irregularities due to changing sunspot activity, but these irregularities are
very small compared to the eccentricity effect. On the other hand, there are long term variations due to
the Milankovitch cycles which consist in variations in eccentricity, axial tilt and precession of the
Earth’s orbit. Yet, these variations are so slow that they do not have any practical importance at a
human time scale. Finally, at huge time dimensions, there is the astronomically long time variation of
the Sun activity according to the live cycle of a star.
However, all the latter variations are insignificant for practical purposes. Even the eccentricity effect
can be disregarded in many practical contexts. For many practical uses it is sufficient to suppose that
there is a constant radiant power arriving at the terrestrial atmosphere the value of which is determined
by the solar constant. In addition, concerning the solar irradiance at the terrestrial surface, the variation
of the solar radiation outside the terrestrial atmosphere is small compared to the more important
variations that result from passing through the atmosphere.
The total radiant power the Earth receives from the Sun can be determined multiplying the solar
constant by the cross sectional area of the Earth. Taking as the mean Earth radius we
get:
From this value we can calculate the total solar energy received on Earth during one year (
):
12
Spencer (1971) indicates a more exact formula:
where
.
Figure 8: Annual variation of the extraterrestrial irradiance at normal
incidence due to the varying Sun-Earth distance
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The dimension of this energy becomes impressive if we compare it to the total world primary energy
supply, which amounted to in 2007.13 This means that the Earth receives about 10,800
times more solar energy than the humanity needs actually for its primary energy consumption.
Furthermore, the calculated radiant energy yields a mean irradiance at the Earth of
.
14
However, remind, once more, that we speak about the radiation outside the atmosphere. The irradiance
at the Earth’s surface is much smaller because of scattering, reflection and absorption and reemission
processes in the atmosphere. Additionally, it is modified in its spectral composition.
2.2 Radiation extinction processes in the atmosphere
Several radiation attenuating effects occur when radiation crosses the atmosphere. Generally, they are
called extinction processes. There are two general classes of extinction processes: absorption and
scattering (being reflection a special case of scattering).
Absorption means that the energy of a photon is taken up by matter. Scattering means that radiation is
deviated from straight propagation.
- Atmospheric absorption is a process of radiation extinction which reduces the available solar
radiation at the Earth’s surface considerably. Some constituents of the atmosphere absorb radiation of
a certain spectral range.
Ozone (O3) in the upper atmosphere absorbs almost completely short-wave radiation at wavelengths
below 290nm. Above 290nm ozone absorption decreases, until at 350nm there is nearly no absorption.
Another weak ozone absorption band is near 600nm.
Water vapour absorbs strongly in the infrared part of the solar spectrum, with absorption bands at 1,
1.4 and 1.8μm. Carbone dioxide is another strong absorber of infrared radiation. Due to both gases,
H2O and CO2, the radiation transmission through the atmosphere is very low at wavelengths above
2.5μm.
Finally, oxygen and nitrogen absorb radiation over a large wavelength range.
- Scattering is a process in which radiation is forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by non-
uniformities in its way (molecules, dust particles etc.). In the case of solar radiation, two types of
13
International Energy Agency (IEA), Key World Energy Statistics 2009 14
Note that this value includes also nighttime.
Figure 9: Extinction processes in the atmosphere
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scattering are distinguished: Rayleigh-scattering and Mie-scattering. Which of these two types of
scattering happens depends especially on the size of the non-uniformities.15
Because of scattering
processes, solar radiation reaches the Earth’s surface partially as diffuse radiation. Not all radiation
arrives as direct (or beam) radiation.
Rayleigh-scattering, named after the English physicist John W. Strutt Rayleigh (1842-1919), is the
scattering of electromagnetic radiation by particles which are much smaller than the wavelength of the
radiation. In the case of light, with a wavelength between 380nm and 780nm, these particles are
individual atoms or molecules. Rayleigh-scattering follows a -law. That means that light with a
smaller wavelength will be scattered much more than light with a longer wavelength. The sky is blue
because the blue light, with its shorter wavelength, is scattered much more than the light of other
spectral ranges. Additionally, the Sun looks reddish at sunrise and at sunset because the longer way of
the radiation through the atmosphere provokes that a bigger fraction of light with shorter wavelength
will be scattered away, so that the beam radiation contains a higher fraction of light with longer
wavelengths, e.g. red light. The direction of the scattered light follows a -pattern, where
is the angle between the beam direction and the angle after the scattering.
Mie-scattering, named after the German physicist Gustav Mie (1868-1957), is the scattering of
electromagnetic radiation by particles whose diameter is of about the same dimension as the
wavelength or larger. In the atmosphere, water droplets, ice crystals and aerosol particles cause Mie-
scattering. Mie-scattering does not have a similarly clear-cut -dependency as Rayleigh-scattering; it
is less wavelength-selective.16
Additionally, while Rayleigh-scattering is quite exclusively a function
of Air Mass, Mie-scattering depends strongly on local conditions, especially on air pollution and
cloudiness. The white appearance of clouds, for instance, is an effect of Mie scattering at water
droplets.
Concerning the scattering direction, Mie-Scattering has a strong forward pattern.
The following table shows once more the principal characteristics of the two kinds of scattering:
Table 1: Comparison of Rayleigh-Scattering and Mie-Scattering
Scattering does not convert radiation into other forms of energy. Nevertheless, it reduces beam
radiation. If we consider CSP systems, which use only beam radiation, then scattering involves a loss
of useable radiation. Additionally, the incoming radiation is partly scattered back to space and does
15
The size is not the only criterion. The shape of the non-uniformities is also important. 16
Mie-scattering can be described by the formula (Eicker 2001, p. 37), where τ is radiation transmission, m Air Mass, β a parameter that varies between 0 for very clear sky and 0.5 for very turbid sky and α a function of the size distribution of the aerosol particles that usually is between 0.25 and 2.5 with an average of .
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not reach the terrestrial surface, so that there is a real reduction of total irradiance on the Earth’s
surface. About one fifth of the total radiation is reflected back to space.17
Clouds have the most important and, as we know from our experience, the most changing effects on
the amount of solar radiation that reaches the terrestrial surface, due to the mentioned processes of
reflection, absorption and scattering.
Figure 10 and 11 show the radiation reduction effects of the different extinction processes. As to be
seen in 11, the radiation reduction in relation to the extraterrestrial radiation is very strong in the
ultraviolet range and also quite strong in the infrared range. In the visible range, the absolute reduction
is high, but in relation to the extraterrestrial radiation the reduction is lower than in the ultraviolet and
infrared range.
Figure 10: radiation reduction through atmospheric extinction processes I
Figure 11: radiation reduction through atmospheric extinction processes II (source: C. Hoyer-Klick:
Introduction to Solar Resource Assessment)
17
See Heinemann, Energy Meteorology Script p. 29
1 Planck curve at T=5780 K at mean
Sun-Earth distance
2 Extraterrestrial solar spectrum
3 Absorption by ozone
4 Absorption by biatomic oxygen and
nitrogen
5 Scattering by aerosols
6 Absorption by water vapour
7 Maximum radiation reaching the
ground (without additional
extinction by aerosols and clouds
22
2.3 Air Mass
The radiation extinction effect of the atmosphere depends on different aspects like aerosol
concentration, humidity and especially cloudiness. These conditions are highly variable at a given
place and they can be determined only by measurement. There is a further aspect, which is known
without any measurement, but just by the geographical location and by time: the optical path way of
the direct solar radiation through the atmosphere. The radiation attenuation depends on the latter in the
following way: the longer the way through the atmosphere the stronger its radiation attenuation. The
path length of the solar radiation from the top of the atmosphere to a given place on the Earth’s
surface, in turn, will be a function of the geographic altitude of the place and of the solar zenith angle
, i.e. the angle between the Earth surface normal and the line to the Sun. We can concretise the
relationship in the following way: if is 0°, i.e. if the Sun is at the zenith, the light beam has to travel
the smallest possible distance inside the Earth’s atmosphere until it reaches the surface. In contrast, if
the Sun is near the horizon, the path through the atmosphere will be very long. On this basis it is
possible to define a relative measure of the atmospheric mass through which beam radiation passes to
reach the Earth’s surface.
The light has to travel through the minimum mass of atmosphere if the Sun is in the zenith. This mass
of atmosphere receives the value 1, if a place at sea level is considered. All other possible values will
be related to this minimum value. For instance, if the zenith angle is 60°, then the path length through
the atmosphere will be double, i.e. it receives the value 2.18
This value is called Relative Air Mass, or
simply Air Mass (AM). In a first approximation it is calculated according to:
(5)
The following figure demonstrates the dependence of the Air Mass on the incidence angle of solar
radiation:
Figure 12: Relative Air Mass
Equation (5) can be only an approximation because this formula takes the terrestrial atmosphere as
plane-parallel. But, the atmosphere has a curvature which reduces the real Air Mass for zenith angles
. The curvature effect becomes important especially for large zenith angles. For some solar energy
applications the indicated approximation is sufficient. For others the curvature effect has to be taken
18
The atmosphere has different properties at different altitudes. Its density, for instance, decreases at higher levels. And the concentration of certain gases and of aerosols also varies with altitude. Nevertheless, whatsoever are these variations and whatsoever are their specific effects, these effects will be approximately proportional to the path length within the terrestrial atmosphere. So, the application of the simple proportional Air Mass as a measure for the attenuating effect of the atmosphere can be considered as justified.
23
into account. An Air Mass formula, which is more exact especially for large zenith angles, has been
identified empirically with19
:
(6)
Not only the zenith angle determines the Air Mass, but also the altitude of a given place. Taking into
account the altitude effect, (6) has been completed to:
(7)
where is the altitude above sea level.
2.4 Direct, diffuse and reflected radiation
The different extinction processes provoke that not all radiation that reaches the Earth atmosphere
reaches the ground. Actually, as we will see later, only about 52% hits the Earth’s surface.
Additionally, scattering provokes that a part of the radiation, that reaches the ground, gets there as
diffuse radiation rather than direct radiation (or beam radiation). Diffuse radiation does not have a
preferred direction.
Direct radiation is radiation that arrives at the Earth’s surface in a straight line from the Sun. CSP
systems can use direct radiation only. Non-directional radiation cannot be concentrated and,
consequently, cannot be used in these systems.
There is yet another fraction (besides the mentioned diffuse radiation) that contributes to the non-
directional radiation. This fraction is not owed to scattering but to reflection on the ground: reflected
radiation. It depends on the ground reflectivity. As we know, it varies considerably being much higher
at fresh snow than at a green meadow.
The irradiance on a surface in the atmosphere or on the ground is always the sum of these three
components: irradiance due to direct radiation, diffuse radiation and reflected radiation. This sum is
called total or global irradiance illustrated in figure 13.
Figure 13: Irradiance due to direct, diffuse and reflected radiation
19
(2.6) and (2.7) were proposed by Kasten (1966) and are still used in the SOLEMI Method in the DLR (see DLR 2008).
24
As CSP systems can use only direct radiation, in the following we will be concerned much more with
direct radiation than with diffuse and reflected radiation.
2.5 Direct radiation: Turbidity
We now want to know how we can determine the energy available from direct radiation at a given
time and at a given place. We know that there is no direct radiation when the sky is covered by clouds.
That’s why we have to consider only clear sky conditions. However, as we have seen above, we have
to account for the mentioned atmospheric extinction processes in order to derive the irradiance on the
ground from the irradiance outside the atmosphere. We know that a clear sky may be more or less
turbid due to Rayleigh scattering, Mie-scattering and absorption.20
In order to express the turbidity, a
transmission factor can be attributed to each of the extinction processes. These transmission factors are
called , and , respectively. They indicate the ratio of the radiant flux transmitted through the
atmosphere (considering exclusively the reduction due to the respective extinction process) to the
incident radiation at the top of the atmosphere. For the ratio of the irradiance at the terrestrial
surface and on a plane perpendicular to the direct radiation (direct normal irradiance) to the solar
constant we can conclude:
(8)
Furthermore, extinction processes in the atmosphere can be described generally by
, (9)
where x is the extinction coefficient with the unit [ ] and AM the relative optical path length (Air
Mass). Let’s imagine a so-called Rayleigh-atmosphere, that means an atmosphere that does not show
any Mie scattering nor absorption, i.e. , and where the only extinction process is
Rayleigh scattering. In this case we get the following extinction coefficient:
. (10)
If we consider a realistic atmosphere with and , we get
(11)
The ratio of these two extinction coefficients is called the turbidity factor :21
(12)
Inserting (from the definition of ) in (9) and with (10) we get
20
We do not take into account reflection because reflection is basically bound to clouds, but here we consider only clear sky conditions. 21
It is also called the Linke turbidity factor.
25
. (13)
That means that the turbidity factor indicates the extinction in the real atmosphere in relation to the
extinction in a Rayleigh-atmosphere. It indicates how many such Raleigh-atmospheres would be
equivalent to the real atmosphere (at a given place and time) concerning their extinction capacity.22
The turbidity factor in a pure Rayleigh-atmosphere would be 1. In the real atmosphere it is always
greater than 1.
The reason why the turbidity is defined that way is that Rayleigh-scattering in the atmosphere can be
considered as constant and independent on locally and temporally changing conditions, while Mie-
scattering and absorption vary corresponding to locally and temporally variant circumstances. Figure
14 shows empirically determined turbidity factors over the year for different types of places in Central
Europe. It is not surprising, of course, that the lowest values are to be found in the high mountains,
where the air is very clean, and the highest in industrial areas, where pollution is higher than in other
areas. What can also be seen is a seasonal variation. The reason of this variation are different water
vapour contents in summer and in winter. Higher water vapour contents in summer provoke a stronger
radiation reduction.23
Empirically, the general approach was determined as follows (using in one
expression the solar altitude angle and in the other the zenith angle ):
(14)
22
See Kleemann/Meliß 1993, 40f. 23
Additionally, a minor variation during the day was registered. For European conditions, a certain increase at midday in summer and a weak decrease at midday in winter were measured (see Gassel 1997, 18).
Figure 14: Turbidity factor during the year at different places in Central Europe (Gassel 1997, 18)
26
2.6 Direct radiation on tilted planes
Equation (14) indicates the irradiance of direct radiation on planes that are perpendicular to the
radiation direction, i.e. it indicates the direct normal irradiance. Let’s consider additionally the
irradiance of direct radiation on horizontal planes and, finally on tilted planes.
The incidence angle is defined as the angle between the radiation direction and the normal of the
irradiated plane. In the case of a plane perpendicular to the radiation direction, the incidence angle is
0°. Now, imagine a plane that is exposed to a beam under different incidence angles, as to be seen in
figure 15. The irradiance, i.e. the irradiated power per square meter, on the illuminated part of the
plane is inversely proportional to the area illuminated by the beam. The area that is illuminated
depends on the incidence angle . If the direct normal irradiance is Gbn, then the irradiance on a tilted
plane Gbt under an incidence angle is
. (15)
The irradiance reduction of direct radiation due to non-normal orientation of the irradiated surface in
relation to the radiation is sometimes called the cosine effect.
In the case of a horizontal plane, the incidence angle is equal to the solar zenith angle. The direct
horizontal irradiance Gb is, then
(16)
Combining equations (15) and (16) we can express Gbt also as a function of Gb:
(17)
Figure 15: Irradiance on tilted planes
Equation (14) can be used to generalize equation (13) for any tilted plane:
27
. (18)
What is still missing is the determination of the incidence angle , to which we will return below.
2.7 Diffuse and reflected radiation
As mentioned above, we concentrate here on direct or beam radiation. However, in order to round out
the topic of radiation on tilted surfaces in this paragraph, we will add some general remarks and rough
formulae concerning diffuse and reflected radiation.
a) Diffuse radiation can be characterized by means of a clearness index . is defined as the ratio of
global radiation to the extraterrestrial radiation24
:
This clearness index can be determined empirically by measurements. It allows ascertaining the
diffuse radiation from the global radiation, using empirically determined correlations between global
radiation and diffuse radiation as a function of the actual clearness index. According to
Origill/Hollands25
, the following correlations hold:
(19)
We suppose that the diffuse radiation at a given place and time is isotropic, this means, that it is equal
in all directions from the half-space above the horizontal plane (non-directed radiation coming from
the Earth’s surface, i.e. reflected radiation, is here not subsumed under diffuse radiation). The
irradiance on a tilted surface, due exclusively to diffuse radiation, is, then:
, (20)
where is the tilt angle as defined above. A surface facing to the zenith ( ) receives the full
diffuse radiation, while a surface facing to the ground ( ) receives no diffuse radiation at all.26
b) Reflected radiation depends on the global radiation and on the reflectivity of the Earth’s surface,
i.e. on its albedo. Albedo is the ratio of diffusely reflected radiation to incident radiation. It varies
between 0.1 for dark, wet soil or forest to more than 0.9 for fresh snow. Typical values for many
24
This clearness index is not to be confounded with the clearness index in the section 5.2, which is the ratio of the global irradiance at a given place and a given time to the global irradiance that would exist under clear sky conditions. 25
See Origill/Hollands 1977. 26
It is quite a big simplification to take diffuse radiation as isotropic. The indicated equation is, thus, only a very rough approximation. There have been elaborated more complex expressions for the irradiance on tilted surfaces that take into account the circumsolar concentration of diffuse radiation and a higher diffuse radiation concentration near the horizon.
28
places (without conditions responsible for extreme albedo values as, for instance, snow and ice) are
between 0.2 and 0.3.
We suppose once more that the reflected irradiance at a given place and time is isotropic, this means,
that it is equal in all directions from the half-space below the horizontal plane (the reflected radiation
in the sense we apply here does not come from the sky, but from the groudn). The irradiance on a
tilted surface, exclusively due to reflected radiation, is, then:
. (21)
A surface facing the zenith does not receive any reflected radiation, while a surface directly facing the
Earth’s surface receives the full reflected radiation.27
2.8 Radiation balance of the Earth
The Earth is in a rough radiation equilibrium in the sense that the radiant power incident on the Earth
equals roughly the radiant power leaving the Earth. Taking into consideration that the mean solar
irradiance on the Earth is
, and supposing (counterfactually) that the Earth has a
uniform surface temperature and that it does not have any atmosphere, the application of the Stefan
Boltzmann Law yields the following surface temperature28
:
Now, we know that it is not that cold on Earth.29
The real mean surface temperature is about 15°C.
This is the case because of the terrestrial atmosphere and its multiple effects (greenhouse effect).
As already mentioned above, only about 50% of the incident solar radiation reaches the Earth’s
surface, approximately half of it in form of beam radiation and the other half in form of diffuse
radiation. Among the other 50%, which do not reach the terrestrial surface, about 25% are absorbed by
ozone, water vapour, aerosol particles, clouds etc. and the rest is backscattered into space.
27
This equation supposes that there is no repercussion of the tilted surface itself on the reflection due to shading. Obviously, a sufficiently big surface that is sufficiently closed to the reflecting terrestrial surface does not receive the radiant power indicated in (30), because it obstructs the incoming radiation. 28
It is important to emphasize that the indicated value is valid only for a planet with a uniform surface temperature (which, of course, is impossible). It cannot be understood as a mean temperature of a planet similar to the Earth (i.e. with temperature differences due to day-night-changes, seasonal variations and different radiation angles at different latitudes) but without atmosphere. The to-the-power-of-four-dependency of the radiation emission on temperature does not allow interpreting the value as an arithmetic mean at a planet with non-uniform temperature. Indeed, a known mean radiant emittance of a body does not allow determining any mean temperature of the body. 29
This value is not to be confounded with another theoretical terrestrial surface temperature, which is often indicated in the literature: -18°C. This is the temperature of an Earth-like planet with homogenous temperature disregarding the greenhouse effect, but including other atmospheric effects (in particular, reflection of incident radiation back into the space).
29
Figure 16: short-wave radiation balance
About 30% of the radiation that reaches the Earth with its atmosphere is reflected or backscattered to
space, partially from the clouds, partially from the atmosphere itself, partially from the Earth’s surface
(mean planetary albedo ). The rest is absorbed by atmospheric components, clouds and the
terrestrial surface. According to their lower temperature, the absorbed energy is finally emitted in a
longer wavelength range. According to Wien’s displacement Law (see above), the radiation emitted
from the terrestrial surface (with an average temperature of 288K) lies basically in the mid and long
infrared range (with its maximum at about μ ). Within the system Earth-atmosphere, several
radiation and heat exchange processes take place. Just to mention some important of them: A part of
the radiation that is emitted by the terrestrial surface is absorbed by the clouds and by other
atmospheric components and reemitted, partially into space and partially back to the terrestrial surface
so that the atmospheric infrared radiation. i.e. the atmospheric counterradiation, constitutes an
important part of the incident radiation on the terrestrial surface. Furthermore, convective processes
(wind), latent heat release and absorption in the hydrological cycle and innumerable energy conversion
processes, for instance in the biosphere and in the anthroposphere, at the end of which always heat will
be released at a temperature near the ambient conditions, complete the complex energy conversion
processes.
30
Figure 17: radiation balance including long-wave radiation
At the end, all incoming solar radiation that is not reflected to space, i.e. about 70%, will be converted
into heat. Approximately 40% are converted directly into heat; about 22% are absorbed for the
hydrological cycle (0.003% of which are captured in the flow energy of rivers). 2.5% feed wind,
waves and ocean streams, and 0.1% are absorbed for biomass production.
The radiation equilibrium is only a rough equilibrium. Fossil materials like our fossil fuels mineral oil,
coal and natural gas exist because solar energy was stored a long time ago in the lithosphere. There
was a small surplus of incident solar radiation during the millions of years, when the organic material
was accumulated and transformed into fossil materials. Additionally, global climate change processes,
particularly global warming and cooling, indicate a temporal disequilibrium between the radiation that
reaches and radiation that leaves the Earth. These processes, i.e. the formation of fossil materials and
the change of climatic conditions, however, are slow and are generated because of radiation
disequilibria that are minuscule if expressed in percentaged differences between incoming and leaving
radiation.
31
3 Geometrical aspects of direct solar radiation
CSP systems use direct solar radiation. They can use only direct radiation because it has a defined
direction, and the latter is necessary for radiation concentration. In order to be able to concentrate solar
radiation it is necessary to know the direction of the beam radiation or, what is the same, the
(apparent) position of the Sun in relation to a terrestrial observer. This section is dedicated to the
determination of the direction of the beam radiation.
A localization of the Sun respective a terrestrial observer depends on the following aspects: the
position of the observer on the Earth, the general Sun-Earth geometry, refraction processes in the
atmosphere and, finally, time.
An exact calculation of the apparent Sun position is very complex. Several algorithms have been
proposed that allow the determination of the direction of the beam radiation at different accuracy
levels. Very exact algorithms as, for example, the Michalsky algorithm or the NREL algorithm take
into account not only the Sun-Earth geometry, but also radiation refraction in the atmosphere. In the
present section we will consider only a rougher approximation. We do not consider refraction and we
characterize the observer position in the longitude-latitude coordinate system only, not taking into
account the altitude, which would also be relevant for a more exact calculation.
CSP applications need a very accurate determination of the apparent Sun position. The calculations we
present in the following are not sufficiently exact, but they represent very good approximations and
they are a basis for any elaborated algorithm. Moreover, their understanding provides an important
prerequisite for the understanding of solar engineering.
3.1. Sun-Earth geometry
For a description of the general Sun-Earth geometry it is sufficient to consider the changing angular
relations between the star and the planet. Therefore we can use a heliocentric or a geocentric
perspective.
We begin with the heliocentric perspective. The following figure shows some important relations.
32
Figure 18: Sun-Earth geometry from the heliocentric point of view
The Earth revolves once a year around the Sun and approximately once a day rotates once around its
own axis. The plane in which the Earth revolves around the Sun is called the ecliptic plane. The
equatorial plane, i.e. the plane perpendicular to the Earth’s axis that includes the Earth equator, is
inclined to the ecliptic plane by approximately 23.5 and the Earth’s axis is also inclined by 23.5 to
the normal of the ecliptic plane. This inclination provokes different annually periodic variations in the
irradiation conditions at the two hemispheres, which is the cause of the existence of seasons. The Sun
is in the equatorial plane at spring equinox and at autumn equinox. At these two points, irradiation
conditions on the northern and on the southern hemisphere are equal. Northern summer solstice is the
point, where irradiation is maximal on the northern hemisphere and minimal on the southern
hemisphere. Northern winter solstice is the point, where irradiation is maximal on the southern
hemisphere and minimal on the northern hemisphere.
The Earth’s orbit is not a circle but an ellipse, although with a very small excentricity. The Sun is
situated in one of the two focuses. The perihel (closest point on the Earth’s orbit to the Sun) is reached
at the beginning of January and the aphel (farthest point on the Earth’s orbit to the Sun) is reached at
the beginning of July.
33
We come now to the geocentric point of view.
Figure 19: Sun-Earth geometry from the geocentric point of view
This perspective shows an apparent revolution of the Sun around the Earth. The exact form of this
apparent revolution depends on the observer’s position on the Earth, more exactly, on the latitude of
his standpoint. In figure 19 a standpoint at around 60° northern latitude was chosen. The apparent
movement of the Sun is realized in the equatorial plane (at spring equinox and at autumn equinox) or
in planes that are parallel to the equatorial planes.30
It is useful to project the apparent Sun orbit and
other curves and points of interest on a virtual celestial sphere, as to be seen in figure 19.
The equatorial plane was explained already for the heliocentric perspective. The horizontal plane is the
plane that includes the horizontal line of the observer. It divides the sky into two hemispheres, the
upper hemisphere that is visible from the observer’s position and the lower hemisphere that is not
visible to him (because the Earth is in the way). The angle between the horizontal and the equatorial
plane is , where is the latitude of the observer’s position.
The zenith is the point on the celestial sphere that is vertically above the observer. The nadir is the
point on the celestial sphere that is opposite to the zenith. The north celestial pole is the point where
the northern extension of the Earth’s axis subtends the celestial sphere. The opposite point is the south
celestial pole. The meridian is the circle on the celestial sphere that is perpendicular both to the
horizontal plane and to the equatorial plane. Zenith, nadir, north celestial pole and south celestial pole
are located on the meridian.
30
Of course, this is only roughly true. More exactly, the movement has the form of a very narrow spiral between the indicated curves at summer solstice and at winter solstice.
34
3.2 Coordinate systems
In order to describe the Sun’s position (and at the same time the direction of direct solar radiation) we
need appropriate coordinate systems. As we are not interested in the Earth-Sun distance but only in the
direction of the Sun in relation to the Earth, or in relation to some place on the Earth, two angles are
necessary and sufficient to determine the Sun’s position. There are two common coordinate systems
for mapping celestial objects in relation to the Earth or to some place on Earth, a) the equatorial
coordinate system and b) the horizontal coordinate system.
a) The equatorial coordinate system takes the equatorial plane, i.e. the plane through the terrestrial
equator as the fundamental plane. The two coordinates are the declination δ and the hour angle ω. The
declination is the angle between the equatorial plane and the line to the Sun. The hour angle is the
angular displacement of the Sun east or west of the local meridian due to the rotation of the Earth
around its axis.
Figure 20: Equatorial coordinate system
The declination is a function exclusively of time (and not, for instance, of geographical position).
Corresponding to the inclination of the Earth axis to the orbit of about 23.45° it oscillates with the
period of one year between 23.45° and -23.45°. Taking into account that the variation during one day
generally is insignificant for practical purposes, the declination can be approximated as a function of
the day of the year31
:
(22)
31
Cooper (1969). Spencer (1971) gives the more accurate formula: 0.070257sin −0.006758cos2 +0.000907sin2 −0.002679cos3 +0.00148sin3 ∙180 , where .
35
Note that the declination is positive during spring and summer of the northern hemisphere and
negative during spring and summer of the southern hemisphere.
The hour angle is also exclusively a function of time, more precisely of the hour of day (HoD). Taking
solar time, which means the time based on the apparent angular motion of the Sun across the sky, with
solar noon at the moment when the Sun crosses the meridian at the observer’s position, and taking into
consideration that the Earth rotates at a rate of 15° per hour, the following relationship between hour
angle and time can be formulated:
(23)
Defining (being positive at morning and negative at afternoon), the hour
angle can be determined for any hour.
b) The horizontal coordinate system uses the observer’s local horizontal plane as the fundamental
plane.
Figure 21: Horizontal coordinate system
The two coordinates belonging to the horizontal coordinate system are the solar altitude angle ,
which is the angle between the horizontal and the line to the Sun, and the solar azimuth angle ,
which indicates the angular displacement from south of the projection of beam radiation on the
horizontal plane. Displacements to the east are negative and to the west positive. Instead of the solar
altitude angle we could also use the zenith angle , which indicates the angle between the
vertical (pointing above the observer’s position) and the line to the Sun.
The altitude angle and the azimuth angle for a site with the geographic latitude φ can be calculated on
the basis of the equatorial system according to:
(24/1)
(24/2)
(24/3)
36
In the case that the zenith angle is used instead of the solar altitude angle , has to be
changed for and has to be changed for .
The horizontal coordinate system has the advantage to be more descriptive, because, from the normal
human standpoint, we observe the Sun in a horizontal system. Nevertheless, it is less convenient for
calculations.
3.3 Solar time
The position of the Sun in relation to an observer on Earth is a function of the geographical position of
the observer and of time. Time entered the indicated coordinate formulas in two different forms, first,
in a rather coarse and unproblematic form as day of the year and second, in a much more precise form,
as the solar time. The day of the year appeared in the formula for the declination δ and solar time
appeared in the formula for the hour angle. In the case of declination it is not necessary to be more
precise because declination varies by 46.9° just once in half a year. However, the hour angle varies by
approximately the same amount in only three hours, as expressed by the indicated formula. So,
accuracy in time determination is crucial in this case.
If we used standard time, then the indicated formula Δω/Δt (15 )/h, with ω=0 at 12:00h would be
so inexact that it possibly could be useful for a hiker’s orientation, but not for more technical purposes.
Now, there are two options: Either we use standard time and change the simple formula for a much
more complex one or we maintain the simple formula and decide to substitute standard time for
another kind of timescale. The common decision is to use the short formula for the hour angle and to
change from standard time to solar time. Solar time is defined in such a way that the Sun passes the
meridian always exactly at noon. That means, at 12:00h solar time the Sun is exactly in the south (in
the northern hemisphere) or in the north (in the southern hemisphere). Additionally, the angular
movement of the Sun satisfies equation (23). A solar day, i.e. the time lapse between two subsequent
crossings of the Sun path with the local meridian, has exactly 24 hours at the solar time scale
(although it is slightly variable at the standard time scale).
There is a general divergence between standard time and solar time due to two different kinds of
reasons.
First, there may be a difference between the observer’s geographical longitude and the reference
longitude of his time zone. Remember that a time zone comprises a certain range of longitudes and
that there can be at most one reference longitude within this range where the Sun passes the meridian
at noon. The Central European Time zone, which reaches from Spain to Poland, for instance, includes
an area of more than 33 degrees, where the same standard time applies (see figure 22). However, in
western Spain the Sun passes the meridian more than two hours later than in eastern Poland.
37
Figure 22: Standard time zones. Central European Time Zone with a longitudinal range of 33°. source: www.theodora.com
Second, at the same longitude the solar noon time, i.e. the time when the Sun passes the meridian,
varies over the year (if measured in standard time). That means that the days (in the sense of the time
span between two Sun crossings of the meridian) do not have the same length (measured in standard
time). There are two reasons for that: a) the elliptical orbit of the Earth and, b) the tilt of the ecliptic
plane with respect to the equatorial plane.
a) The Sun performs its apparent rotation around the Earth not only because of the revolution of
the Earth, but also because of the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. A planet that rotates
around a sun moves with a certain angular velocity around it, and this angular variance causes
different illumination situations. But, if the angular velocity changes, then this effect varies
too. As the terrestrial orbit is an ellipse, and not a circle, the angular velocity is not constant.
This is implied by the second of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. According to this law, the
line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time. As
illustrated in figure 23, this involves that the angular velocity is not constant. Consequently,
the length of days, i.e. the time between two crossings of the Sun’s path with the local
meridian, is not constant either.
Figure 23: The ellipse effect
38
This variation, which we can call the ellipse effect, produces a sine wave variation of time (in
relation to standard time) with an amplitude of 7.66 minutes and a period of one year.
Figure 24: Annually periodic difference between solar time and standard time due to ellipse effect
b) There is a second effect due to the tilt of the Earth axis of about 23.45° in relation to the
normal of the orbit plane or the tilt of the ecliptic plane with respect to the equatorial plane.
The following heuristic construct may be helpful to understand this effect: Imagine a planet P
whose axis is parallel to the normal of the orbit plane. Imagine additionally that exactly once a
year P rotates around its axis in the same sense as it rotates around its sun. In this case, the Sun
will always be at the meridian at a certain longitude .32
Now, incline the axis of P relatively
to the normal of the orbit plane (for instance to an angle of 23.45° as happens with the Earth)
and look what happens to the position of the Sun in relation to the longitude . Except for four
points at the orbit, the Sun will not be any more at the meridian. That means that in the
segments between the four points (at spring and autumn equinox and at summer and winter
solstice) there will be a difference between solar time and regular standard time. This effect,
which is caused by the inclination of the Earth axis, is sometimes called the projection effect.
32
We consider here a planet with a circular orbit.
39
The segments between winter solstice and spring equinox and between summer solstice and
autumn equinox are geometrically equal as well as the segments between spring equinox and
summer solstice and between autumn equinox and winter solstice. Accordingly, the tilt of the
Earth axis produces a regular variation with a period of a half year. The amplitude of the sine
wave variation amounts to 9.87 minutes.
Figure 26: Half-year periodic difference between solar time and standard time due to projection effect
So, even disregarding the divergence of the solar time from the standard time because of the difference
between local longitude and reference longitude, there is a difference between solar time and standard
time, which can be expressed as the sum of the two explained geometric effects, the ellipse effect and
the projection effect.
Figure 25: The projection effect
40
Figure 27 represents this sum graphically. As illustrated in the graphic, at its maximum the difference
between solar time and local mean time amounts to more than 16 minutes. This means that an error of
about 4° can result (according to the hour angle formula) if the two mentioned effects are not taken
into consideration, which would be inacceptable in technical contexts such as the orientation of the
mirrors in CSP plants.
Taking into consideration that there are differences between standard time and solar time at a given
location due to, first, the existence of extended time zones and, second, the mentioned geometrical
effects, we can distinguish between three types of times: local standard time, local mean time and solar
time.
Local standard time is the official time in a given time zone.
Local mean time is a timescale that has a constant difference to the local standard time. This constant
difference exists because of the difference between the reference longitude of the time zone and the
longitude of the respective location within the time zone. The local mean time for a given location is
valid for all locations at the same longitude. A longitude correction expresses the difference between
local standard time and local mean time.
Solar time is a time scale according to which the Sun always crosses the meridian (in relation to a
given location) exactly at noon. The so-called equation of time expresses the difference between local
mean time and solar time. According to what was explained above, this difference is not constant but
varies with an annual period.
The following table shows some important characteristics of the three time systems.
Figure 27: Graphical representation of the Equation of Time
41
Table 2: Characteristics of the different time scales
At first we will concretize the longitude correction, which accounts for the mentioned difference
between the location longitude and the reference longitude of the corresponding time zone and permits
to convert local standard time in local mean time and vice versa. As we know that the Sun needs 4
minutes to traverse an angle of 1°, this correction will be
(25)
where is the time zone reference longitude and the local longitude. Additional considerations
may be necessary if the respective standard time contains changes between summer time and normal
time. In this case, an additional difference of one hour has to be taken into account.
Second, the equation of time, which expresses the difference between local mean time and solar time
and whose graphical representation is to be seen in figure 27, is the following:
(26)
where and .33
Combining longitude correction and equation of time, solar time can be derived from standard time
and vice versa:
(27/1)
(27/2)
These equations are valid under the following longitude definition: Longitudes west of Greenwich are
positive and longitudes east of Greenwich are negative, i.e. the Moroccan capital Rabat is situated at
the longitude 6° and Cairo is situated at the longitude -31°.
Now we have the instruments to calculate quite exactly the angular position of the Sun at a certain
time in relation to any geographical position and to determine the incident angle of solar beam
radiation at any plane at any geographical point.
33
See Winter (1991).
42
3.4 Direction of direct solar radiation
For the calculation of the direction of solar beam radiation we need to determine the Sun position in
relation to the observers’ horizontal system for the respective site and for a given time. In order to
achieve this, we determine the equatorial coordinates and of the Sun’s position. For the
calculation of the declination we need only the DoY, for the calculation of the hour angle we need the
solar time. For the calculation of the solar time we need to know the longitude of the location, the
day of the year and the standard time . Subsequently, we determine the Sun’s position in
horizontal coordinates in relation to the observer’s location, taking into account its latitude .34
The
solar altitude angle is, according to (24/1):
In the same way we can indicate the zenith angle , which is identical to the angle of
incidence of the solar beam radiation on a horizontal surface:
(28)
In order to calculate the azimuth angle of the Sun, we refer back to (24/2):
This expression can be simplified making use of (24/1):
(29)
Because of the symmetry of with respect to , this equation does not contain any
information about the algebraic sign of . But, it is important to know it, because it indicates whether
the Sun is east of south by , being negative (in accordance with the agreement to determine
angles east of south as negative and west of south as positive), or west of south by , being
positive. However, the algebraic sign can be fixed quite easily: Before solar noon should be
negative, because the Sun is east of south, and after solar noon should be positive, because the Sun
is west of south. The same is valid for the hour angle , so that we can derive the arithmetic sign of
from the arithmetic sign of :
34
In accordance with the definition of the declination δ, which was defined as positive during northern spring and summer and negative during southern spring and summer, is positive in the northern hemisphere and negative in the southern hemisphere.
43
(30/1)
where the sign function is equal to if is positive and it is if is negative.
If we take the incidence angle instead of the solar altitude angle , then (30/1) changes to:
(30/2)
However, as mentioned above, one has to bear in mind that all of these formulae are based on the
position of the Sun in relation to the Earth only. They do not take into account any deviation of light
by the curved and layered atmosphere, which changes the apparent Sun position slightly. This effect
can be important for CSP systems as even small errors in tracking angles lead to a loss in radiation
collection efficiency because parts of the sunlight will not hit the absorbers any more. The
corresponding numerical formulae that account for these effects will be unequally more complex and
would go beyond the scope of this lecture.
3.5 Incidence angles on tilted surfaces
We consider now a tilted plane at a given geographical location and want to determine the incidence
angle of the beam radiation on it. The incidence angle depends on the following parameters:
geographical position (latitude and longitude), time (day of year as well as time of day) and plane
orientation (tilt angle and azimuth angle).
Tilt angle β and an azimuth angle γ of the plane will be defined the following way: Take a horizontal
surface and incline it to the south (in positive direction) or to the north (in negative direction) by β and
rotate it then to the west (in positive direction) or to the east (in negative direction) by γ.
44
Figure 28: Tilted plane with tilt angle β, plane azimuth angle γ and incidence angle θ, additionally solar zenith angle θz, solar azimuth angle γs
Taking into consideration that the time will be given in standard time, we will have to determine at
first the corresponding solar time (from day of year, time of day, longitude). In a second step we can
calculate the hour angle ω (from solar time) and declination δ (from day of year). With these angles
and with the plane tilt angle β and the plane azimuth angle γ we can determine the incidence angle θ
according to the following formula35
:
(31)
In some special cases this formula adopts a simpler form. First, if we consider horizontal surfaces,
then the incidence angle will be independent of the plane azimuth angle . Thus, the terms that contain
the azimuth angle will disappear and the equation takes the form of (28) (with the incidence angle
being identical to the zenith angle):
Second, for vertical surfaces facing towards south in the northern hemisphere the
equation transforms into:
(32/1)
35
Duffie/Beckman 2006, 14
45
while it takes the form for vertical surfaces facing towards
north in the southern hemisphere.
Third, for inclined surfaces in the northern hemisphere facing towards the equator with a tilt angle
equal to the latitude angle ( ) the equation will be simplified to:
(32/2)
(for solar noon, where , it takes the very simple form .)
The indicated formula permits also to calculate the hour angles of sunrise and sunset .
As the plane tilt is of no interest in this case, we take a horizontal surface and we get the
relatively simple relation
and consequently
. (33)
However, bear in mind that (33) is based on the moment when the centre of the Sun is at the horizon.
In practice, sunrise and sunset are defined as the times when the upper limb of the Sun is on the
horizon, i.e. is not 90° but slightly more, such that in reality will be a bit higher than indicated
by (33). Disregarding this detail, we can use (32) to calculate the day length for any day at any
latitude. In order to do that, we calculate the declination according to (22), put it in (33) and determine
the two values for . The difference of these two values allows calculating the day length
according to (23):
(34)
With (22) we can transform (32) into an expression as a function of the latitude and the day of the
year:
. (35)
The incidence angle in (30) and in its subsequent simplified forms is indicated in the cosine form. This
is not just for aesthetic reasons, avoiding ugly arccos or cos-1
signs, but it has also the advantage to
relate the incidence angle directly to the irradiance on a plane, yet the beam radiation arriving with an
incidence angle of at a plane provokes an irradiance of where is the irradiance
on a plane in normal orientation to the radiation (cosine effect).
46
3.6 Tracking angles of mirror systems
All radiation concentrating systems have in common that they need some tracking system if they shall
be used continuously. Direct radiation changes continuously its direction in relation to the horizontal
coordinate system of a given location and, consequently, in relation to an optical system fixed on the
terrestrial surface. As the radiation has to enter the collector system in a determinate direction, a
tracking system is required in order to maintain the mirrors in line with the incident direct radiation.
There are differences between point-focusing and line-focusing systems. Point-focusing systems (solar
dish and solar tower systems) need a two-axis tracking system, while line-focusing systems (parabolic
trough and linear Fresnel systems) only require one-axis tracking.
Point-focusing systems: A determination of the tracking angles of dish-Stirling systems can be very
short, yet, they are identical to the angles of the beam radiation as they were determined in the last
section. (Always bear in mind though, that the actual formulae used in practice, which account also for
atmospheric effects, are much more complicated.)
Figure 29: Tracking angles at point-focusing systems
The following angles can be used:
The collector zenith angle , which indicates the inclination of the concentrator in relation to the
vertical is identical to the solar zenith angle (and the incidence of the solar beam radiation on a
horizontal surface). It is calculated, according to (28), as follows:
(36)
The azimuth angle of the concentrator is identical to the solar azimuth angle . It is calculated,
according to (30/2), as follows:
(37)
where the sign function is equal to if is positive, and if is negative.
The heliostats of solar tower power plants also require two-axis tracking. However, the situation is
more complicated than for a dish/Stirling system because the tracking not only depends on the
geographical position of the heliostat and the Sun’s position, but also on the position of the solar tower
and its receiver in relation to the heliostat.
47
Figure 30: Angles in a solar tower power plant
Taking into consideration that the angle of incidence on the mirrors equals the angle of reflection, for
the azimuth angle and the altitude angle of the normal of the heliostat the following holds:
The altitude angle of the normal of a heliostat is the arithmetic middle of the altitude angle of the line
from the heliostat to the receiver and the solar altitude angle:
The azimuth angle of the normal of the heliostat is the arithmetic middle of the azimuth angle of the
line from the heliostat to the receiver and the solar azimuth angle:
and are determined at given solar field and solar tower geometries. is
determined by means of equation (36) and is determined according to equation (37).
Line-focusing systems: The tracking of line-focusing systems requires only one tracking axis.
Theoretically, the tracking axis can be oriented in any direction. However, usually east-west
alignment, which traks the Sun from north to south, and north-south alignment, which tracks the Sun
from west to east, are considered. East-west alignment has the advantage that comparably little
collector adjustment is required during the day. At noon time the full aperture always faces the Sun.
However, a disadvantage is that the collector performance is reduced greatly during the early and late
hours of the day due to large incidence angles. North-south alignment has the advantage to have a
much more equilibrate daily collector performance. Generally, the cosine loss is higher at noon than in
48
the morning or evening hours.36
The differences between summer and winter concerning the collector
performance are larger in north-south alignment than in east-west alignment.
In commercial applications, a horizontal north-south alignment is used. Higher annual energy yields
and the mentioned lower daily power variations are the reasons for this decision. The orientation can
be described by the collector zenith angle , which is the angle between the optical plane and the line
to the zenith, and the azimuth angle , which indicates the orientation of the mirror aperture in relation
to the horizon, where south=0° and west=90°. The tracking angle is then the angle s, which is
alculated as follows:
(38)
where is the solar zenith angle, the solar azimuth angle. For , the following determination
holds: if and if , which means that the mirror aperture is oriented
to the east in the morning and to the west in the afternoon.
Figure 31: Tracking angles at line-focusing systems with north-south alignment
In the case of east-west alignment, the tracking angle is calculated as folliows:
(39)
For , the following determination holds: if and if , which
means that the mirror aperture is oriented to the south if the Sun is south of the east-west line and to
the north if the Sun is north of the east-west line (which happens between spring equinox and autumn
equinox in the early morning and in the late evening).
Figure 32: Tracking angles at line-focusing systems with north-south alignment
36
This is the case for locations not too close to the equator and rather in winter. Anyway, concentrating solar power plants normally cannot be located close to the equator because the direct solar radiation is less because of high cloud indexes.
49
3.7 Incidence angles on mirror systems
The incidence angle on solar dishes is always 0° because of the two-axis tracking. The incident angle
on line-focusing parabolic trough systems with one-axis tracking, on the contrary, depends on the
collector alignment and on the Sun position.
For the common north-south alignment, the incident angle is calculated as follows:
(40)
where is the solar zenith angle, the declination and the hour angle.
For the east-west alignment, the incidence angle is calculated as follows:
(41)
50
4 Radiation concentration
4.1 Radiation concentration on parabolic mirrors
Parabolic mirrors have a focal point or a focal line. Paraboloids (solar dishes) have a focal point and
parabolic troughs have a focal line.
Radiation which enters parallel to the optical axis of a paraboloid mirror or within a plane parallel to
the optical axis plane37
of a parabolic trough is reflected a way that it passes through the focal line.
Reduced to a two-dimensional problem: A parabola has a focal point, which means that radiation that
arrives parallel to the optical axis is reflected a way that it passes though the focal point. Figure 33
illustrates the geometric relations. It demostrates the cross section of a parabolic mirror in a coordinate
system. The parabolic mirror follows the graph of the function . The red lines represent the
light entering the mirror in rays parallel to the axis of the parabola and crossing the axis, after
reflection, at the focal point F.
In the following we want to show that such a parabola really has a focal point. Therefore, we take one
arbitrary ray of light that is parallel to the axis of the parabolic mirror and we determine where the
reflected ray crosses the axis. We show that this point does not depend on the point were the ray hits
the mirror and we thereby demonstrate that all rays parallel to the parabola´s axis pass through this
point after reflection.
We take the ray that hits the mirror, or the tangent , at the point E under the incident angle α
leaving E under the same angle. is the vertical angle of the incident angle and therefore it also
equals to α.
Now we determine the point B on the x-axis, i.e. the point of intersection of with the x-axis.
37
The expression “optical plane” refers to the plane that contains the optical axes of all (parabolic) cross sections of the trough.
Figure 33: Path of rays parallel to the optical axis of a parabolic mirror
51
E is on the graph of the function . Consequently, the coordenates of E, , can be
determined as . The gradient of is the gradient of the function at the point E, i.e.
. According to this, has the analytical form . Filling
in
this equation, we get and, consequently,
. For B, which is the point of
intersection of this line with the x-axis, i.e. for we get . So, B devides in two
equal parts. We can draw the line through F and B and get the point C such that ABF and BCD are
congruent. Furthermore, these triangles are similar to BDE. Now, because of this similarity it is
and with and we get
.
We see that the point of intersection of the reflected ray with the x-axis is independent from the
incident point E. That means there is a focal point where all incident rays meet, that enter the mirror
parallel to its axis, and the focal length of a parabola (from the vertex) is .
Consequently, the parabola’s analytic representation can be expressed as
. (42)
So, parabolic mirrors concentrate radiation. Adding a third dimension z to the two-dimensional x-y-
plane in figure 33 there are two ways to design a three-dimensional parabolic mirror. First, the
parabola can be elongated in the z-direction forming a parabolic trough. In this case the focal point is
also elongated into a focal line. Second, the parabola can be rotated around its axis thus generating a
paraboloid, which concentrates the radiation in a point.
Figure 1.34: Concentrating parabolic mirrors, point-concentrating (left) and line-concentrating (right)
4.2 Alternative radiation concentration geometries for CSP systems
There are other important concentration geometries that are not derived directly from the described
focusing properties of the parabola. We can distinguish, once more, between point-focusing and line-
focusing systems.
An important point-focusing system are the so-called heliostat fields of solar tower plants with a
number of mirrors that track the Sun such that the rays always hit a receiver area on a tower.
52
Figure 35: Heliostat field as a point-focusing system and tower receiver
An important line-focusing system is the so-called Fresnel collector38
that consists of a number of
elongated mirror segments that track the Sun such that the rays always hit a receiver in the focal line.
Figure 36: Fresnel mirrors as a line focusing system
4.3 Theoretical maximum concentration of solar radiation
As shown in the preceding section, parabolic mirrors concentrate axis-parallel radiation in a focal
point or in a focal line. Now, the following question arises: Is there a limitation of the possible
concentration ratio at parabolic mirrors or is it possible to reach any concentration ratio?
The concentration ratio C is defined as the ratio between the radiant flux after the concentration to the
radiant flux before the concentration. In many cases, this ratio can be approximated by the ratio of the
aperture area of the optical system, i.e. the area through which the radiation enters, to the minimum
area through which the reflected radiation passes, i.e. to the area of the image of the radiation source at
the point where the area of this image is minimal:
(43)
38
The name is derived from the Fresnel lenses, developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, that have the characteristics to break a big lens into a set of concentric annular sections, which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional spherical lens with similar optical properties.
53
Taking into account that we deal with systems that concentrate the solar radiation incident on the
aperture area onto an absorber, and supposing that the absorber surface covers just the Sun image, we
can convert (43) also into the following form:
(44)
In our case, we have to consider the image of the Sun in the focal point – more exactly, as we will see
in the following, in the focal plane – of the optical system. Now, taking into account that the preceding
section demonstrated that there is (at least at a perfect parabolic mirror) a dimensionless focal point
(and not an extended focal area) somebody could assume that it is possible to reach any concentration
ratio, yet, the Sun’s image could be a dimensionless point. However, even with a perfect mirror, this is
impossible, because the solar radiation does not arrive in exactly parallel rays and, consequently, the
Sun’s image is not concentrated in the focal point that was calculated above but ocupies a certain area
around the focal point in the focal plane.39
Remember that the Sun-Earth distance is finite so that there
is a angular spread of the direct solar radiation. The spread angle is called the solar beam angle and it
amounts to (figure 37).40
The existence of a certain beam spread makes it
impossible to concentrate the direct solar radiation that enters an optical system in one point. There are
finite maximum concentration ratios.
There is a general law which permits the determination of this maximum concentration on the basis of
the beam angle of the incident radiation: the law of the conservation of the étendue in an ideal optical
system. An ideal optical system is a system in which there are no energy losses by extinction processes
(absorption); the reflection coefficients of included mirrors are 1 and the transmission coefficient of
the included optical medium is also 1. In such a system, as indicated in figure 38, and under the
additional condition that in the optical path there is no change among different optical media with
different refraction indexes, the product of the area of the aperture A and of the receiver A' and the
solid angle in which the radiation propagates is constant. Or, what amounts to the same, the products
of the areas A and A' and respective squares of the sine of the half beam angle
and
are equal:
.
39
The focal plane is defined as the plane that includes the focal point above determined and is perpendicular to the parabola’s axis. 40
The following derivation of the maximal concentration ratio is taken from Kleemann/Meliß 1993, 109-111.
Figure 37: Solar beam angle
54
Taking into consideration the definition of the concentration ratio (44) and taking into account that
(half of the solar beam angle), the maximum concentration ratio, which is reached
for
, amounts to:
. (45)
This theoretical concentration maximum is valid for an ideal three-dimensional concentrating system
that concentrates the incident radiation in one spot. In a two-dimensional concentration system, which
concentrates the incident radiation in a line, the product of area and the sine of half of the beam angle
(instead of the square of the sine of half of the beam angle) is constant. Therefore, the maximum
concentration ratio amounts to:
. (46)
4.4 Theoretical maximum concentration ratio on parabolic mirrors
Now we will determine the theoretical maximum concentration ratio of the focal spot or the focal line
in real parabolic systems. We will consider flat receivers in the focal plane (which is realistic for dish
systems, but not for parabolic troughs).
At first we consider paraboloid mirrors. The Sun image in the focal plane is a fuzzy spot whose total
size and form depend on the aperture of the mirror and on the range of the rim angle (figure 39).
The total image is composed of the individual images coming from each point P on the mirror’s
surface. These individual images are ellipses whose form and size depend in the following way on the
angle :
Figure 38: Étendue in an optical system
55
Figure 39: Focal spots at paraboloid mirror
(47)
(48)
Considering all points at the distance from the focal point F, the Sun image in the focal plane has a
circular form with the diameter
.
Taking into account that the Sun images from all other points with a distance from F that is smaller
than are situated within this circular spot, we can assert that this circle indicates the total size of the
Sun image of the whole paraboloid mirror. The Sun image covers the following area:
(49)
The diameter d of the paraboloid mirror is related to the maximal value of and to as follows:
, and the aperture area amounts to:
(50)
The concentration ratio C is:
(51)
and with :
(52)
The maximum value is reached for :
56
(53)
This value is smaller than the theoretical concentration ratio of 46200 that was indicated in equation
(45). The difference is explained by the fact that equation (45) refers to punctual maxima, while
equation (53) refers to the radiation concentration averaged over the whole Sun image. The local
concentration ratios within the focal spot vary so that the maximum punctual concentration ratio is
higher than the average concentration ratio.
In the case of a parabolic trough of the lenght l, the aperture area is and the Sun
image on a plane receiver has the area
. The corresponding concentration ratio is:
(54)
The maximum value is reached again for :
(55)
Once more, this value is lower than the value in equation (46) because in that equation the punctual
concentration maximum is indicated while equation (55) indicates the average concentration ratio
within the Sun image.
The calculated values are valid only for ideal mirrors and the specified geometry. Real systems with
paraboloid mirrors reach concentration rates of about 2000-6000.41
Real parabolic troughs reach an
average concentration ratio of 82.42
As mentioned above, the irradiance on the focal spot is not homogenous. In case of a paraboloid
concentration geometry, the centre of the focal spot has a higher irradiance than the outer parts. More
exactly, the irradiance shows a Gaussian distribution as illustrated by the graph in figure 40, which
demostrates the irradiance distribution in the focal spot of an experimental device at DLR.
41
See also Kleemann/Meliß 1993. 42
The values for the parabolic troughs result if the ratio of the aperture width of the collector to the receiver diameter is used to determine the concentration ratio. Many producers of parabolic troughs indicate this value. However, it has to be taken into account that it would be more exact to calculate the concentration ratio not in relation to the absorber diameter but in relation to the absorber circumference (which would render lower concentration ratios).
57
For high temperature applications it could be decided to use only the inner part of the focal spot,
which has higher concentration ratios.
The fact that real concentration ratios are below the calculated theoretical maximum concentration
ratios is implied by the following aspects:
geometrical imperfections:
- surface imperfections of the mirror (microscopic and macroscopic)
- orientation error of the reflector
material limitations:
- mirror reflection coefficients below 1
Figure 41: Angular aberration effect of the mirror
Figure 40: Irradiance distribution in a paraboloid concentrating system at the DLR test field in Cologne (source: DLR)
58
Figures 41 and 42 illustrate the geometrical imperfections. Macroscopical surface aberrations of the
mirror (slope errors) by the angle result in a ray aberration of (figure 41).
Microscopical surface errors may result in a widening of the beam spread of the reflected radiation.
Additionally, there are material limitations, which provoke in this case that the reflection coefficient is
below 1. That means that a certain part of the incoming radiation will not be reflected but absorbed by
the mirror matierial or transmitted.
4.5 Maximum theoretical absorber temperature
The maximum temperature that can be reached on the absorber depends on the concentration ratio.43
According to the Stefan-Boltzmann law, the radiant emittance of a black body surface with the area
and the temperature is calculated as follows
. (56)
Thus, the radiant emittance of the Sun ( , ) approximately (in due consideration of the
comments in 2.1) amounts to
. (57)
According to the determination of the solar constant
, (58)
43
The following derivation of the maximal concentration ratio is taken from Kleemann/Meliß 1993, 111-114.
Figure 42: possible effect of microscopical mirror error
59
where is the Sun-Earth-distance, and without taking into consideration atmospheric influences (!),
the received power on the collector aperture ( ) is
. (59)
The radiant power of the absorber ( , ), considering the absorber as a black body,
amounts to
. (60)
The maximum absorber temperature is reached when the radiant power of the absorber equals the
received power on the collector aperture, i.e. when the radiation balance of the absorber is zero:
. (61)
As is quite small, we can approximate and it follows
.
Taking into account, additionally, equation (44) we get
. (62)
With (62), (61) can be transformed (including further simplification) into
. (63)
With (equation 44) equation (63) can be transformed into:
(64)
60
Equation (64) shows the dependence of the aborber temperature on the concentration ratio. The higher
the concentration ratio is, the higher is the temperature of the absorber. However, this equation is quite
theoretical. First, it considers black bodies, although we know that no real object is a black body, nor
the Sun neither the absorber. Selective coatings on absorbers in solar thermal systems, in particular,
may reduce the radiant emittance and provoke, thus, higher absorber temperatures. Second, absorbers
may be protected by claddings, for instance glass covers or tubes, that reflect or absorb and reemit a
part of the radiation emitted by the absorber and that permit, thus, higher absorber temperatures.44
Third, only radiation is considered. Other heat exchange processes are not taken into account.
However, in the case of a colder environment, heat conduction and convection may have the effect
that the maximum temperature is never reached. Fourth, atmospheric influences are not considered. As
we have seen, atmospheric influences reduce the solar irradiance, such that they tend to reduce the
absorber temperature.
Nevertheless, one information included in equation (64) is valid independently from all further
considerations: The theoretical maximum temperature at would be . A
higher temperature would mean a free energy flow from a body with a lower to a body with a higher
temperature, and this is impossible according to the second law of thermodynamics.
44
This is what happens to the Earth. Taking the Earth without any protecting atmosphere, its mean temperature at a radiation balance of zero would be much lower than it is actually: around -18°C. Thanks to atmospheric influences the real mean temperature is higher.
Figure 43: Theoretical maximum temperature at different concentration ratios (Kleemann/Meliß: 1993, 113)
61
5 Radiation measurement
Solar power projects need reliable local radiation data for the project site. There are different
possibilities to get such data. Radiation can be measured by ground measuring or by satellite
measuring. Radiation data bases are available. In this section we will concentrate on radiation
measurement. At the end, some available data bases are presented.
Ground and satellite measurements have different functional characteristics. Ground measurement can
be done by a CSP project developer himself; satellite measurement requires larger measurement
programmes. Ground measurements are local (with the possibility of spatial interpolation); satellite
measurements cover large regions and allow the comparison of many possible sites. Ground
measurements require large time spans in order to achieve reliable results; satellite measurement
programmes often count with available long-term data bases. Ground measurements are very exact if
executed in an appropriate way; satellite measurements cannot reach the exactness of ground
measurements.
In many cases, an adequate way of solar resource assessment may be a predetermination of possible
CSP plant sites on the basis of satellite data and the subsequent ground measurement on a
predetermined site in order to acquire more exact data for the selected site.
Figure 44: Two possibilities of radiation determination: ground measurement and satellite measurement
5.1 Ground measurement
There are different radiation measurement instruments and techniques for ground measurement, the
application of which depends on the measurement aim. There are different instruments for the
measurement of global radiation, direct radiation and diffuse radiation, and there are different
instruments for the measurement of the radiation in different wavelength ranges. A differentiation of
measurement methods and instruments in relation to wavelength ranges is less important in the context
62
of CSP and can be neglected here. A differentiation of measurement procedures of direct, diffuse and
global radiation, on the contrary, is very important.
Figure 45: Global radiation measurement with pyranometer (left) and infrared radiation measurement with a pyrgeometer (right) (source: Gengenbach Messtechnik)
Diffuse radiation measurement instruments cover the whole hemisphere above the measurement point
(180 degrees viewing angle) and are shaded from the Sun. The detector is placed horizontally. Direct
radiation measurement instruments are oriented directly to the Sun so that the detector surface is
always perpendicular to the incoming direct radiation. Global radiation measurement instruments
receive both the diffuse and direct component on a horizontally placed detector.
One standard instrument for measuring the global irradiance is a thermopile-type pyranometer,
which measures the irradiance in the wavelength range of solar radiation (typical measurement range:
from 300 to 3000 nm). It uses thermopile detectors and glass or quartz domes.45
The dome has a
double function. First, the filter material reduces the wavelength range of the registered radiation,
excluding the ambient infrared radiation.46
Second, it protects the device against different
environmental influences, e.g. pollution. The form of a dome allows equal transmittance of the solar
radiation from all angles. Radiation measurement instruments normally have integrated bubble levels
and adjustable levelling feet for horizontal positioning. Additionally, they dispose of a drying cartridge
filled with silica gel desiccant, which has the function to avoid condensation on the inner dome
surface.
The mode of operation of a thermopile-type pyranometer is based on the thermoelectric effect. The
thermopile has a black surface coating, which is a non-spectrally selective paint with a very high
absorption coefficient (about 0.97) It consists of a large number of thermocouple junction pairs, which
are connected electrically in series. One junction responds to the incident radiant flux warming up
according to the incident radiation. The other junction is connected to a heat-sink, which is the
pyranometer body itself. Between them there is a thermal resistance. Thermocouples convert the
temperature difference into a voltage. The ratio of the generated voltage and irradiance is
45
See www.kippzonen.com, www.rg-messtechnik.de. 46
In the case of pyrgeometers, i.e. instruments for the measurement of infrared radiation, coated silicon lets pass only radiation with a wavelength between μ and μ .
63
constant, with the sensitivity of the radiometer as the proportionality factor, such that the measured
voltage is easily translated into irradiance:
Figure 46: Structure and function of a thermopile-type pyranometer
Pyranometers can also be used to measure diffuse radiation instead of global radiation. Therefore,
shadow rings or shading balls are applied, which shade continually the sensitive surface from direct
solar radiation, permitting only diffuse radiation to pass. Such measurements with shading elements
permit additionally to determine direct radiation considering that direct radiation is the difference
between global and diffuse radiation. Shadow rings are the most economic solution for diffuse
radiation measurement. They are inclined to the horizontal plane by , where is the
geographical latitude, adopting thus a parallel orientation to the equatorial plane. Adjustment is
required every several days by parallel displacement of the shadow ring along the two parallel fixing
rods. Shadow rings also block a small part of the diffuse radiation, which has to be taken into account
in a respective correction.
64
Figure 47: Pyranometer with shadow ring (source: Gengenbach Messtechnik)
Contrary to shadow rings, shading balls shield only the Sun and its aureole. However, they need a
complete Sun tracking system to follow the Sun.
Figure 48: Sun tracking system with different measurement instruments and shading ball (source: Gengenbach Messtechnik)
Another instrument designed especially to measure direct normal beam radiation is a pyrheliometer.
Its field of view is limited to 5°. That means that it “sees” the Sun and its aureole and not the rest of
the sky. This is achieved by the shape of the collimation tube, the shape of the aperture and the
detector design. The front aperture is fitted with a quartz window as a filter that lets pass solar
radiation with a wavelength between 200nm and 4000nm. The mode of operation is analogue to the
one of pyranometers. Pyrheliometers must be oriented accurately and permanently to the Sun. That’s
why it is necessary to use automatic Sun trackers.
65
Figure 49: Structure and function of a pyrheliometer (source: Gengenbach Messtechnik)
The mentioned instruments permit to measure the radiation with a high accuracy. The error is less than
2%. However, in order to achieve this accuracy, quite an intensive maintenance is required. The
instruments are very sensitive to soiling. Daily cleaning and a permanent local professional
surveillance are necessary in order to obtain reliable results.
An alternative instrument, which allows the simultaneous measurement of global, direct and diffuse
radiation and which needs less maintenance work, is the rotating shadow band pyranometer. One
monthly revision and cleaning is sufficient. Its accuracy is slightly lower than that of a well
maintained and cleaned thermopile-based measurement system (error of about 3%). Contrary to the
latter, a rotating shadow band pyranometer works with a photocell that converts the radiation into
electric signals. It is equipped with a shadow band that rotates in regular time intervals around the
photocell and casts thereby momentarily a shadow over it. This permits to determine global radiation
as well as diffuse radiation. Global radiation is measured when the shadow band does not block the
direct radiation, and diffuse radiation is measured at the moment when it prevents that the direct
radiation reaches the photocell.
66
Figure 50: Rotating shadow band pyranometer with its main components (source: Solar Millennium)
Direct radiation is determined as the difference of global and diffuse radiation. In commercially
available systems, the shadow band moves once per minute over the sensor, taking about one second
for this motion. During this period the sensor signal is sampled about 1000 times. The lowest readings
occur when the sensor is completely shaded from the Sun and when the instrument reads only the
diffuse irradiance. The drop in the signal as the shadow passes over is equal to the direct irradiance
times the cosine of the zenith angle. The zenith angle is derived from the instrument’s latitude,
longitude and time. The total irradiance is measured when there is no shading.
Figure 51: Functional principle of a rotating shadow band pyranometer
As the photocell is sensitive to temperature variation, an ambient air temperature sensor is included,
which permits to make temperature corrections to the photocell signal.
On-site radiation measuring is quite a long process if it is intended to achieve results that permit
reliable interpolation to future radiation conditions. Even if exact results are achieved for a whole year,
67
they may permit only rough conclusions for other years, yet in many places solar radiation varies
considerably over the years.47
For instance, the Deutsche Wetterdienst48
registered in the years 1937 to
1999 annual global irradiation values for Potsdam/Germany from 887 kWh/m2a to 1180 kWh/m
2a.
That means that the highest annual irradiation during that period was 33 percent higher than the lowest
one. That’s why it is necessary to accomplish measurements during a longer time to get reliable
results. Figure 52 shows the maximal variation of values determined during different periods (from 1
year to 20 years) in relation to the long term average from 1937 to 1999. In the case of Potsdam, the
measurement period should comprise at least five years in order to limit the variation from the long
term average to 7 per cent. In other words, average values for a five year period can vary up to 14 per
cent in relation to the average value for the following five years. Taking into consideration that an
exact estimation of the solar resource is crucial for the economic calculation of solar energy projects, it
is very important to count with long-term data.
Figure 52: Maximal variation of irradiation during periods from 1 to 20 years in relation to the long term average from 1937 to 1999, registered in Potsdam/Germany (source: Quaschning)
47
See Quaschning 2001. 48
Deutscher Wetterdienst is the German national meteorological service. It provides weather and climate information. See www.deutscher-wetterdienst.de.
-15%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
68
5.2 Satellite measurement programmes
A sufficiently exact in situ measuring of solar irradiance is expensive and it takes a long time. It is
expensive because of the required instruments and because of the necessary staff for the maintenance
of the measurement station, and it takes a long time because, even if the measurement is realized over
an entire year, the results may be little reliable. Additionally, ground measurements are local and do
not provide information about larger regions.
A complementary possibility to acquire solar radiation data is the purchase of data from satellite
measurement programmes. Generally, it is less expensive and covers larger time spans. Very
important is that is also covers larger regions. It allows a quick comparison between different sites
concerning their solar radiation potential. As the data of different sites are acquired by the same
measurement instruments and procedures, a comparison should be very reliable. If an overview over a
certain area is required, no interpolation processes are needed to determine local conditions at selected
sites.
Several methods have been developed in the past two decades for estimating the solar irradiance on
the basis of satellite data.49
One approved method is the so-called Heliosat method, which is used and
permanently improved in the DLR project SOLEMI.50
This method distinguishes between two main factors of atmospheric influences on solar radiation:
first, attenuation factors aside from cloudiness and, second, cloudiness. This method permits to
account for global and direct radiation separately (and, consequently, also for diffuse radiation).
Accordingly, it is accomplished in two major calculation steps. In a first step, the clear sky irradiance
for a given location and time is calculated, i.e. a cloud free atmosphere is assumed and the influence of
absorption and scattering at air molecules, ozone, water vapour and aerosols on the radiative transfer is
determined. In a second step, a cloud index is derived from Meteosat images, which yields a cloud
transmission and a clearness index. Cloud transmission and clearness index are used finally to
determine global and direct irradiance on the basis of the clear sky global and direct irradiance.
The calculation process is represented in the following schema (figure 53). The upper left field
corresponds to the determination of the global and direct irradiance at clear sky conditions (step 1).
The right field corresponds to the determination of the local cloudiness (step 2) and the lower left field
to the final determination of average values of global and direct irradiance (and consequent irradiation
values for given time periods).
49
See Renne et al. 1999. 50
See DLR 2008, www.solemi.de
69
Figure 53: Schematic representation of the Heliosat method
In the first step, the clear sky global irradiance on a horizontal surface is determined as the sum
of the clear sky direct irradiance on the horizontal surface and the clear sky diffuse irradiance
. , on its part, is clear sky direct normal irradiance multiplied by the cosine of
the incident angle :
(65)
In order to ascertain the clear sky global irradiance, thus, clear sky direct normal irradiance and clear
sky diffuse irradiance have to be determined.
Clear sky direct normal irradiance is calculated by the application of different transmission
factors to the irradiance on top of the atmosphere, i.e. on the solar constant . Each of these
transmission factors corresponds to a certain atmospheric radiation attenuating process. The model
distinguishes between due to Rayleigh scattering, due to absorption by ozone, due to
absorption by uniformly mixed gases (N2,O2, CO2, CH4 etc.), due to absorption by water vapour
and due to absorption and scattering by aerosol particles. Taking into account these different
transmission factors, is calculated as follows:
(66)
and are considered as depending exclusively on the air mass. That means, as the air mass
depends just on the incident angle , no further data are required besides the incident angle. is the
only determinant of and .
In the case of , and , the situation is different. In order to determine these transmission factors,
information about ozone distribution, water vapour and aerosol content in the atmosphere is needed:
- Ozone data are acquired from the NASA Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), a satellite
instrument for measuring ozone values. It provides global measurements of total column
ozone on a daily basis. SOLEMI uses monthly data sets because the variability of the ozone
70
column depends, besides on geographical latitude, on the time of the year. The influence of
ozone on the ground irradiance is relatively small (because of the small absorption range at
wavelengths under 0.3 μm).
- Exact water vapour data are very important for the estimation of the ground irradiance,
because water vapour has a larger influence on ground irradiance than ozone. Water vapour
has important absorption ranges in the thermal spectrum. Data are acquired from the
NCEP/NCAR-Reanalysis program (NCEP: National Center for Environmental Prediction
(U.S.), NCAR: National Centre for Atmospheric Research (U.S.)). The objective of this
program is to make available a continually updating data set that represents the state of the
Earth’s atmosphere. It uses observation data and a global climate model that allows analyses
back to 1948. The data were evaluated by a comparison with NVAP data (NVAP: NASA
Water Vapor Project) and showed a correlation above 0.9 for most regions of the world.
- Aerosols have the strongest influence on clear sky irradiance, because of both absorption and
scattering processes. SOLEMI compared several available aerosol data sets with data sets
from different ground measurement networks (for instance Deutscher Wetterdienst
(Germany), BSRN (Baseline Surface Radiation Network) by the World Climate Research
Programme etc.). For direct normal irradiance as well as for global irradiance, the result of
the comparison was that the NASA/GISS data sets (NASA Goddard Institute for Space
Studies) coincide best with the ground measurements at present. Consequently, SOLEMI
uses these data.
With these data sets, all transmission factors can be calculated according to given formulae (taking
into consideration always the local and momentary air mass), and the clear sky direct irradiance can be
determined.
Diffuse irradiance also depends on the different mentioned extinction processes. Anyway, the
existence of diffuse radiation is just another result of these processes, besides the attenuation of direct
radiation. However, there are two additional parameters that have to be taken into account for the
determination of diffuse irradiance. As diffuse radiation is produced partially by reflection processes
between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, diffuse radiation also depends on the ground albedo
and the atmospheric albedo. The radiation reflected by the Earth’s surface may be backscattered or
reflected back to the Earth and so contribute to the diffuse radiation. That’s why reflection processes
have to be taken into consideration for the determination of ground irradiance. Altogether, the model
distinguishes between three components of diffuse radiation: diffuse radiation due to Rayleigh
scattering, diffuse radiation due to aerosol scattering and diffuse radiation due to multiple reflections
between terrestrial surface and atmosphere. The sum of these three components yields the total diffuse
irradiance. And the sum of total diffuse irradiance and horizontal direct irradiance is the horizontal
clear sky global irradiance. The determination of this sum completes step 1 of the Heliosat method.
Step 2 in the procedure consists of the consideration of cloudiness. Clouds have the largest influence
on atmospheric radiative transfer, so it is very important to have reliable data about cloudiness at a
given place. These data are acquired by using Heliosat images. i.e. images acquired by meteorological
geostationary satellites.51
By means of these images, different albedo values at a certain geographical
point at different times can be registered. Differences in the observed albedos are correlated with
different cloud covers, because the albedo seen from the satellite is higher for overcast conditions than
for clear sky conditions. The registered albedo, which will be between the highest value for completely
overcast sky and the lowest value for completely clear sky, is a measure, then, for the cloudiness at a
given place and a given time.
51
The method was proposed originally by Cano (see Cano et al. 1986) and subsequently developed and improved by different authors (see especially Rigollier et al. 2004).
71
More precisely, the procedure is the following: Actual albedo values ρ are derived from satellite
images by evaluating brightness values. Data series about the measured albedo values for a given
place are used to determine the local ground albedo ρmin, which is identified as the minimal reflectance
shown by the images. The ground albedo has to be identified for every site individually, because it
varies in accordance with surface conditions. The ground albedo is the minimal possible reflectance.
That means that the existence of clouds increases the reflectance in any case. The identification of
reflectance values equal to the ground albedo is assumed, then, to correspond to clear sky conditions.52
The maximal albedo ρmax, which corresponds to totally overcast sky, does not need to be identified
individually at every site, because it does not depend on ground conditions. It depends exclusively on
the incident angle.53
The actual reflectance ρ at a given place and time must be between the local
minimal reflectance (ground albedo) ρmin and the general maximal reflectance ρmax. The cloud index n
indicates the value of ρ in relation to ρmin and ρmax. It is defined as follows:
(67)
n is zero for clear sky and 1 for overcast conditions .
On the basis of known clear sky direct and global irradiance, which are computed in step 1, the cloud
index serves now for the determination of average values of direct and global irradiance.
In order to calculate direct irradiance, the effective cloud transmission is introduced as the ratio of
actual direct irradiance to clear sky direct irradiance. The direct irradiance is, then:
(68)
is related to n according to , so that all variables are known to determine .
In order to calculate global irradiance, the clearness index kt is introduced as the ratio of actual global
irradiance to clear sky global irradiance. The global irradiance is, then:
(69)
The empirically identified relation between kt and n shows a simple linear characteristic for large
ranges of n.54
These irradiance data can be used subsequently to calculate temporal and spatial average values.
Finally, global and direct irradiation data for given time periods can be made available. The values can
be graphically represented as it is done in the following example, which shows the calculated
irradiation for Saudi Arabia for July 2000:
52
As the ground albedo of a given place may change, for instance due to changing vegetation conditions, ground albedo maps have to be computed repeatedly at regular intervals. SOLEMI uses monthly renewed values. 53
Taylor and Stowe (1984) indicate the following value: .
54 For different ranges of n, kt is determined the following way: for , , for
, , for and for , . (Generally, n varies between 0 (clear sky) and 1 (overcast conditions). However, values below 0 or above 1 may be registered. Values of n below 0 occur typically at high incident angles on surfaces that don´t possess cloud cover but that are overshadowed from distant clouds. Values over 1 are registered occasionally when cloud reflectance exceeds the generally accepted maximum value.)
72
Figure 54: Direct normal irradiation in Saudi Arabia in July 2000 (source: DLR)
The satellites that are used for such measurements are geostationary satellites, i.e. satellites that have a
fixed position in relation to the Earth. They are above the equator at a distance of about 36,000 km.
Meteosat 7 and Meteosat 8 and 9 are the geostationary satellites that are relevant for Europe and
MENA.
Figure 55: Geostationary satellites (Source: DLR)
73
5.3 Available radiation data bases
There are several radiation data bases, which can be classified according to their data sources and the
data processing. Some data bases are ground measurement data collections, others are based on
satellite data, and, finally, there are data bases that process data (ground measurement and possibly
also satellite data) in a spatial interpolation. Interpolation of ground measurement data between two or
more ground measurement stations can be deployed when measurement stations are near to the
location or site of interest. The interpolation may reach a higher accuracy than satellite data. In the
following important radiation data bases are enumerated:
Ground measurement data sources:
World Radiation Data Centre (WRDC)
Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA)
Basline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN)
International Daylight Measurement Programme (IDMP)
Data bases based on satellite information:
NASA´s Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE)
HelioClim
Satel-Light
SOLEMI
Data sources that combine ground measurement data with spatial interpolation (possibly including
additional satellite data) are:
Meteonorm
European Solar Radiation Atlas (ESRA)
Eosweb
SoDa Service
PVGIS
Test-Reference-Year
RETScreen
The following table shows the meteorological data provided by Meteonorm for Farafra/Egypt.
74
Table 3: Meteonorm data for Farafra/Egypt for the 1st July 2009
Time of day
Solar altitude
Azimuth
Diffuse hor. irradiation
DNI
Wind velocity
Air temperature
rel. humidity
h ° ° Wh/m² Wh/m² m/s °C %
1 0.0 0 0 0 2.9 27.6 34
2 0.0 0 0 0 3.7 26.9 36
3 0.0 0 0 0 3.5 27.1 36
4 0.0 0 0 0 3.3 26.2 38
5 0.0 0 0 0 3.5 25.6 39
6 1.4 -115.3 11 0 2.3 25.5 40
7 13.8 -109.2 45 586 2.1 26.6 37
8 26.6 -103.5 67 743 2.4 27.5 35
9 39.7 -98.5 142 684 2.1 28.4 33
10 53 -93.2 208 677 2.3 29.9 30
11 66.3 -86.3 204 769 2.4 32.8 25
12 79.4 -71.2 316 640 3.5 34.6 22
13 84.7 45.2 327 626 5.1 35.9 21
14 72.3 81.5 253 705 4.9 37.1 19
15 59 90.4 203 721 4.4 37.7 18
16 45.7 96.2 151 730 4.1 37.9 18
17 32.5 101.3 148 551 5.1 36.6 19
18 19.5 106.5 75 581 4.4 36.2 19
19 6.9 112.4 39 227 2.6 34.4 21
20 0.0 0 0 0 1.3 31 25
21 0.0 0 0 0 1.3 28.6 28
22 0.0 0 0 0 1.3 26.4 32
23 0.0 0 0 0 1.3 25 34
24 0.0 0 0 0 1.9 23.7 37
This chapter explained the energy source of CSP plants, solar radiation, and introduced some aspects
of radiation concentration. The next chapters will explain in a more detailed way how the solar
radiation is used in CSP plants in order to generate electricity.
75
Reference List
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Determination of the Global Solar Radiation from Meteorological Satellite
Data”. Solar Energy 37, No. 1, pp.31-39
Cooper, P.I.: “The Absorption of Solar Radiation in Solar Stills.” Solar Energy 12, 3
DLR (2008): Validation Report. SOLEMI Validation Report for Spain, Carsten Hoyer-Klick. DLR: 2008
Duffie, J. A./Beckman, W.A. (2006): Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes. 3rd ed. New Jersey:
John Wiley & Sons
Eicker, U. (2001): Solare Technologien für Gebäude. Stuttgart, Leipzig, Wiesbaden: Teubner
Gassel, A. (1997): Beiträge zur Berechnung solarthermischer und exergieeffizienter
Energiesysteme. Technische Universität Dresden: 1997
International Energy Agency (2009): Key World Energy Statistics 2009
Jung, C. (2009): Bestimmung der Wasserstoffkonzentration im organischen Wärmeträger von Parabolrinnenkraftwerken. 12. Kölner Sonnenkolloquium 2008
Kasten, F., (1966). A new table and approximate formula for relative optical air mass. Arch. Meteorol. Geophys. Bioklimatol., Ser. B. 14, 206-223
Kleemann, M./Meliß, M. (1993): Regenerative Energiequellen. 2nd edition. Berlin et al.: Springer
1993
Lüpfert, E. (2007): Parabolic Trough Optical Performance Analysis Techniques. Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 129, 147-152
Lüpfert, E./Schiricke, B. (2009): QUARZ Zentrum – Übersicht der entwickelten Prüfmethoden im
DLR Test- und Qualifizierungszentrum für konzentrierende Solartechnik.
Michalsky, J.J. (1988): The Astronomical Almanac’s algorithm for approximate solar position.
Solar Energy, Volume 40, Issue 3, 1988, pp. 227-235
Mohr, M., Svoboda, P., Unger, H. (1999): Praxis solarthermischer Kraftwerke. Berlin et al.: Springer
Origill, J.F./Hollands, K.G.T.: „Correlation Equation for Hourly Diffuse Radiation on a Horizontal
Surface”. Solar Energy 19, 1977
Quaschning, V. (2001): Unstete Plangröße. Wo Sie Daten für die Sonneneinstrahlung finden. Sonnenenergie. Juni 2001, 24-27
Renne, D.S., Perez, R., Zelenka, A., Whitlock, C., DiPaquale, R. (1999): Use of weather and climate research satellites for estimating solar resources. Advances in Solar Energy
13
Rigollier, C., Lefèvre, M., Wald, L. (2004): “The method Heliosat-2 for deriving shortwave solar
radiation from satellite images”. Solar Energy 77 (2004), 159-169
76
Seume, J. (2010): Blattsammlung zur Vorlesung Erneuerbare Energien: Teil 2 –
Hochtemperatursolarthermie
Shorits, M.R. et al. (2008): Photogrammetric Analysis of Solar Collectors. The International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol.
XXXVII. Part B5. Beijing 2008
Spencer, J.W. (1971): “Fourier series representation of the position of the sun”. Search 2, 172
Wagemann, Eschrich (1994): Grundlagen der photovoltaischen Energiewandlung. Stuttgart
Taylor, V., Stowe, L. (1984): Reflectance characteristics of uniform earth and cloud surfaces derived
from Nimbus 7 ERB. Journal of Geophysical Research 89, 4987-4996
Trieb, F. et al. (2009): Global Potential of Concentrating Solar Power. Solar Paces Conference
Berlin. September 2009
Uhlemann, R. (1981): Entwicklung und Erprobung einer Experimentieranlage zur Erzeugung solarer Hochtemperaturwärme (800°C – 1000°C) für die Untersuchung der
Energiespeicherung in reversiblen thermochemischen Prozessen. Jülich:
Berichte der Kernforschungsanlage Jülich
77
Questions and Exercises
Questions
1. Which two elements are the main components the Sun consists of? By which physical process the
Sun generates the energy? What does the Sun loose through the generation of energy?
2. How does the radiant power of a thermal radiator vary if its temperature rises from 0°C to
273.15°C?
3. Rayleigh-Scattering is responsable for the blue colour of the clear sky. What is another colour effect
of Rayleigh-Scattering at sunrise and at sunset and how can we explain this effect?
4. Why do we use Air Mass in order to indicate the optical way length through the atmosphere and not
something like an “Air Distance”?
5. How does direct radiation vary (qualitatively) with altitude (all other things being equal) and how
does global radiation vary with altitude?
6. Take a location at 30° N. On 21st of June at noon, is the irradiance due to direct radiation higher on a
plane laying horizontally or on a plane facing to the south with a slope angle of 45°?
7. Which are the respective advantages of north-south and east-west alignment of parabolic troughs?
Consider latitudes of about 30°.
8. What is the general physical reason why it is impossible for CSP systems to reach any concentration
ratio?
9. What general kind of concentration geometry should we use if we want to maximize the collector
temperature?
10. Why do we concentrate solar radiation? Why is it not always sufficient to harvest non-
concentrated solar radiation?
11.
a) What are the two main thermal loss mechanisms at the receivers of CSP systems?
b) By means of which measures it is possible to reduce the these losses and rise, hence, the
temperature of a given absorber in a concentrating system?
12. Why do we need satellite radiation measurement as well as ground measurement in order to realize
site assessments? In which sense do they complement each other?
13. You want to make ground measurements of the solar radiation in a remote place where permanent
surveillance is difficult and expensive. Which kind of measurement instruments do you chose? Which
other instruments could you use if surveillance was easy and cheaper?
78
Answers
1. Hydrogen and Helium are the main components. Solar energy is generated by fusion of hydrogen
into helium. Energy generation by nuclear fusion in the Sun is correlated to a permanent mass defect
of the Sun.
2. As the temperature doubles (in the Kelvin scale), the radiant power octuplicates.
3. The orange or red colour of the Sun is another effect. As the Sun light has a longer way through the
atmosphere, the short wave light is scattered much more and the red/orange part of the spectrum (with
a longer wave length) is overrepresented in the arriving radiation.
4. The atmosphere has different densities in different altitudes and the extinction effect of the
atmosphere the radiation travels through does not only depend on the distance but also on the density.
It is the quantity of air the light has to pass, not the distance, that determines the grade of radiation
atenuation.
5. Direct radiation is higher at higher altitudes (all other things being equal) because of reduced
extinction processes. Gobal radiation is also higher at higher altitudes. Although diffuse radiation may
increase at lower altitudes, the total amount of radiation diminishes because of increasing
backscattering to space and increasing absorption.
6. Solar zenith angle: 30° - 23.45° = 6.55°
incidence angle on a horizontal plane: 6.55°
incidence angle on a plane facing to the south with a slope angle of 45°:
45° - 6.55° = 38.45°
irradiance due to direct radiation is higher at the horizontal plane (at the given location
and at the indicated time)
7.
north-south:
- quite equilibrate daily power curve
- very low cosine losses in the morning and in the evening
- total annual energy yield slightly higher
east-west:
- small collector adjustments during the day
- no cosine losses at noon
- smaller energy yield differences between summer and winter
8. The spread angle of the beam radiation limits the concentration ratio. Only perfect parallel radiation
would permit to rise the concentration ratio at will. But, as any real radiation source has an extension,
there is no perfect parallel radiation.
9. We should use point-concentrating systems.
79
10.
High temperatures can be reached only with a sufficiently high radiation concentration. High
temperatures are necessary for an efficient conversion of heat into mechanical energy. Non-
concentrated radiation can be used for low-temperature applications.
11.
a) convective losses and radiative losses
b)
– transparent claddings reduce convective losses, selective radiation transmission can reduce
additionally the radiative heat loss (for instance glass with high transmission coefficient for short wave
radiation and low transmission coefficient for long wave radiation)
– selective coatings reduce radiative losses (high absorption coefficient for short wave radiation, low
emission coefficient for long wave radiation)
12. Satellite measurement and ground measurement are complementary in the sense that just one of
them (satellite measurement) comprises large areas and permits the comparison between many
possible sites and just one of them (ground measurement) achieves a sufficiently high exactness for a
sufficiently good CSP performance assessment. Both are important: Satellite measurement permits the
solar resource assessment for large areas and ground measurement is apt to determine very exactly the
solar radiation situation at the local level. So, one possible strategy is to apply satellite measurement to
preselect appropriate sites and to apply ground measurement to study more exactly some of these
preselected sites.
13. In this case it is better to use a rotating shadow band pyranometer, which does not need daily
cleaning. If surveillance was easy and cheaper, then pyrheliometer or pyranometer in combination
with pyranometers with shadow elements (shadow ring, shadow ball) can be used.
80
Exercises
Exercise 1
At a location near Djelfa/Algeria with the coordinates 34°33' N, 3° 15' E a CSP plant is planned. You
have to program the Sun tracking unit. Therefore, you need some exact Sun position indications.
Algeria is within the Central European Time zone with the Prime Meridian (longitude 0°) as the
reference longitude.
a) What is the position of the Sun in the horizontal coordinate system on 10th of February at
16:30 Local Standard Time?
b) At what time (Local Standard Time) the Sun crosses the local meridian on 1st of October?
Exercise 2
A businessman offers his old stone quarry near Ouarzazate/Morocco (30°56' N, 6°55'W) as a location
for the construction of a CSP plant. The stone quarry has approximately a circular form, as to be seen
in the following figure.
The location would have certain advantages: Land costs are low, underground water for cooling is
easily accessible (because of the near Atlas mountains) and the quarry has an ideal plane horizontal
surface, which would reduce construction costs compared to many alternative sites.
Unfortunately, the quarry has the disadvantage that the planned solar field would be shaded in the
early morning and in the late evening. In a first evaluation of the situation, you want to calculate the
duration of shading in the morning (after sunrise) and in the evening (until sunset). For simplicity, you
decide to consider a circular solar field as indicated in the figure. You decide to calculate the shading
on 21st of December and on 21
st of June. Indicate the duration (in solar time) of complete shading as
well as of partial shading.
possiblesolar field
1000m
200m
50m
50mN200m
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Exercise 3
A project developper plans a CSP plant near Zarzis/Tunesia. The coordinates are 33°30' N and
11° 7' E. He wants to get an approximate calculation of the irradiation at this location.
a) You decide to consider irradiation on summer solstice. At what time are sunrise and sunset?
Indicate the day length. (All in solar time)
b) What is the solar zenith angle at 12:00 solar time? Calculate the solar zenith angle additionally
for 9:00 and 15:00 solar time and plot the approximate solar zenith angle run from sunrise to
sunset.
c) Calculate approximately the irradiation on the horizontal surface during one day at summer
solstice. Measurements have shown that the turbidity factor in summer at the indicated
location is around 4.5.
i) Indicate the general mathematical expression for the irradiation, taking into
consideration that it is the integral of irradiance over time. Take into consideration that
only direct radiation is useful for CSP. Express the incidence angle on the horizontal
plane as a function of latitude, declination and hour angle.
ii) Approximate irradiation performing a piecewise integration of the integral from (i)
taking average values of θz for the time lapses between sunrise and 9:00, 9:00 and
12:00, 12:00 and 15:00 and between 15:00 and sunset. (Remember that
,
expressing angles in [rad] and time in [h]).
Exercise 4
A solar trough power plant will be built near Cairo (30°N, 31° 50' E). You have to design the Sun
tracking system for the solar troughs, which have a north-south alignment. You want to approximate
the angular velocity of the troughs in order to choose motor and gear. Therefore you want to estimate
the angular velocity of the troughs in the early morning (respectively late evening) and at noon and
you want to distinguish between winter and summer.
a) Approximate the angular velocity between 5:30 and 6:00 and 11:30 and 12:00 (solar time) on
21st of June and between 7:30 and 8:00 and 11:30 and 12:00 an 21
st of December.
b) Is it possible to derive from the result of (a) any general qualitative statement about
differences of the angular velocity between summer and winter and between noon and early
morning (respectively late evening)? If there are such generalizations, for which part of the
world are they valid?
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Solutions
Exercise 1
a)
i) Determination of solar coordinates in the equatorial system:
α) declination:
β) hour angle:
Conversion of Local Standard Time into Solar Time:
ii) Determination of solar coordinates in the horizontal system:
α) solar altitude angle:
β) solar azimuth angle:
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b)
Exercise 2
Because of symmetry the shading duration in the morning and in the evening is the same.
21st of June:
sunrise:
δ = 23.45
Φ = 30.93°
first direct radiation:
end of shading:
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duration total shading:
duration partial shading:
Total shading in the morning and in the evening of the 21st of June: 12min each
Partial shading in the morning and in the evening of the 21st of June: 45min50s each
21st of December:
sunrise:
δ = -23.45°
Φ = 30.93
first direct radiation:
end of shading:
duration total shading:
duration partial shading:
Total shading in the morning and in the evening of the 21st of December: 12min 7s each
Partial shading in the morning and in the evening of the 21st of December: 50min 2s each
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Exercise 3
a)
δ = 23.45
Φ = 33.5
day length =
b)
at 12:00:
at 9:00 and at 15:00:
c)
9:00 6:00 15:00 18:00
90°
60°
30°
0°
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i)
ii)
piecewise integration with average values of θz:
from sunrise (ω = -106.7°=-1.8623) to 9:00 (ω = -/4):
from 9:00 (ω = -/4) to 12:00 (ω = 0):
from 12:00 to 15:00:
from 15:00 to sunset:
total:
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Exercise 4
a)
Linear approximation: Δ
Δ
Δ
21st of June:
5:30-6:00:
Δ
Δ
11:30-12:00
Δ
Δ
21st of December:
7:30-8:00:
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Δ
Δ
11:30-12:00
Φ
b)
The angular velocity is higher at noon than in the morning and in the evening, and the angular velocity
at noon is higher in winter than in summer.
These statements are generally true for locations outside the tropics.